Water from the Rock (Exodus): In the third and final desert test, at Massah and Meribah, the Israelites desperately needed water (again), and things were going from bad to worse. They quarreled with God and were ready to kill Moses. In our time of need, will we harden our hearts and put God to the test? Or will we turn in faith to Jesus, our Rock and our Redeemer, who provides streams of living water? Recorded on Nov 24, 2024, on Exodus 17:1-7 by Pastor David Parks.
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This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God’s Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom.
Sermon Transcript
So, we’re working through the book of Exodus in a sermon series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. After freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Yahweh God led them through the desert wilderness by his word given through Moses and by his holy Presence. For the last few weeks, we’ve seen that God tested his people on the way to Mount Sinai to teach them important lessons. He did this because the Israelites lived for generations as slaves in Egypt, and they needed to learn a lot. They needed to learn how to be their own people, how to listen to God, how to trust him, and so much more. So how was it going? Well, the first test at Marah was just a few days after the famous parting of the Red Sea. The people were dying of thirst, and they found only bitter water and started grumbling against God. But God healed the water and provided refreshment when they arrived at Elim. Then, last week, we considered the second test. About a month after crossing the Red Sea, the people had run out of food and started grumbling against God again. But again, God provided manna/bread from heaven. This sustained them for forty years in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land. If you missed any of the sermons from our Exodus series so far, you can always go back and watch or listen to the audio podcast online or on the Church Center app if you’d like. But after these first two tests, had the Israelites finally learned to listen to God’s word? Had they learned to trust his goodness and faithfulness to provide for them? I’ll just tell you upfront the answer is no. This would be a hard lesson for them. Instead of learning and getting better at trusting God and listening to him, they seemed to go from bad to worse. But, to be fair, they were out of water again. In the desert, this was a very serious problem. Have you ever been in a bad situation and couldn’t see a way out? I have. Maybe you got an unexpectedly big bill or had some other financial problem. Maybe you got a bad diagnosis at the doctor, or maybe you had something hidden come to light in your marriage, and now you’re not sure where to go or what to do. In tough times like those, all kinds of theological questions come up. Questions like, “God, where are you right now?” or “Is this really your will for my life?” or even “Are you even real?” We’re told that God disciplines us because he loves us as his children. But what might’ve been a test to help us learn and grow often gets turned around, and we start to test or quarrel with God. Maybe if we were among those ancient Israelites, we wouldn’t be that much different. Maybe we’d be there, grumbling in the wilderness. But what do we do when we have serious problems — when we’re in a bad situation and can’t see a way out? Is there a way to bring our questions and doubts to God in humble, sincere faith without becoming hard-hearted, bitter, and grumbling against God? Yes, and we must learn this lesson. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 17:1.
Exodus 17:1-4 (NIV), “1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” 4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” It would be understandable if you’re feeling like you have deja vu. God had rescued his people from Egypt and led them as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. They went where he went. But when God stopped at Rephidim and the people set up camp, there was no water for them to drink, just as in the first test at Marah. So they quarreled with Moses just as they did at Marah. Maybe they thought that’s how they could get what they wanted? (The squeaky wheel often does get the grease!) Instead of recognizing God’s mercy in providing water and refreshment at Marah and Elim, perhaps they wrongly thought their grumbling and bitter attitude was what made God act on their behalf? Was Yahweh lazy and needed to be nagged into action? Or was he ignorant of his people’s needs and needed to be petitioned to act for their benefit? They still had so much to learn. If they had actually learned the lesson of Marah and that of the manna from heaven, they would’ve known to bring their desperate situation to God in prayer and trust him to provide as he had time and time again. Instead, they didn’t just grumble; they quarreled with Moses and were about ready to kill him! “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” The implication was, “What kind of prophet and deliverer are you?” Moses probably thought, “None of this was my plan! I asked God to send someone else, but here we are. What do you expect me to do?!?” Well, again, Moses pointed out that the people weren’t actually grumbling and quarreling with him but with Yahweh El Shaddai, the Lord God Almighty. Did Moses remind them of this to avoid getting stoned to death? Meaning, was he shifting the blame for the water problem to God? Perhaps. If so, it wouldn’t be right but it would certainly be understandable. It was one man versus an angry nation. How would God respond?
Exodus 17:5-6a (NIV), “5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” Instead of punishing them or even rebuking them, God comes up with a plan. But the plan dealt with not one but two problems: first, the problem of their desperate need for water, and second, the problem of the near mutiny against Moses’ leadership. Let’s think about the second problem first. God affirmed Moses’ leadership by telling him to get some of the elders, those men who, because of their age, wisdom, and character, had the most influence on the people of Israel. God wanted the elders to witness how he would provide for them through his servant Moses. This would affirm Moses’ leadership and should quell any attempts to take his life (at least for now). The miracle would testify to the truth of his calling. Also, using Moses’ staff to bring water out of the rock would remind the elders and the people of the other miracles God had done through the staff. Aaron threw down the staff before Pharaoh, and it became a snake. Moses struck the Nile River with the staff in the first plague, and it turned to blood. Moses held the staff over the Red Sea, and it was parted, and they walked across on dry ground. The staff was a powerful symbol of God’s power and authority. Think about it: God could’ve provided water any way he wanted. But in this way, with the elders as witnesses and using Moses’ staff, God made it clear that Moses was his chosen leader and that the people needed to listen to him and trust him. This was a very politically and psychologically astute plan, right? Back to the first problem of needing water, God would lead them to a rock at Horeb, which was another name for Mount Sinai — the place where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and the place where God promised Moses would return leading his people out of captivity in Egypt. We’re not sure exactly where Rephidim is located today, but it must’ve been close to Mount Sinai. So, Moses was to strike the rock that God would show them with the staff, and water would come out of the rock as yet another miracle of God’s provision there in the desert wilderness. Would the plan work? Would this be enough to convince the people to trust in God and his servant, Moses?
Exodus 17:6b-7 (NIV), “So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” This is God’s word. Just as the bitter spring was known as Marah, which meant bitter in Hebrew, so Rephidim became known as Massah, which is Hebrew for test or trial, and Meribah, which means quarrel or strife. In other words, this was where the people were tested, but instead of responding in faith, they hardened their hearts and tested God, they quarreled with God. They did not pass the test. In fact, three times they were tested between the Red Sea and Sinai, and three times they failed. Again and again, they looked at their circumstances and lost all hope. They were in a bad situation and just couldn’t see a way out. In their despair, they started asking theological questions. “Is the Lord among us or not?” On the one hand, this seems like a crazy question. Think of all God had done for them! And don’t forget he was now providing the daily miracle of manna from heaven. And don’t forget he was traveling ahead of them in a huge, visible, supernatural way. Of course, the Lord was among them! But on the other hand, their expectations were not being met, which is always a source of painful frustration. God wasn’t sustaining them how they expected him to, so they were ready to rebel. Now, God could’ve responded to their unfaithful rebellion by crushing them. But instead, he lovingly and mercifully provides for them yet again. Instead of replacing Moses with a better leader, he affirmed his leadership. One of the things we can learn in this desert wilderness is that God is so incredibly patient and kind to obviously undeserving people. Another lesson is that down through the generations, in a number of places in the OT, the names of Massah and Meribah became something like a warning against putting God to the test. One example is from Psalm 95:7–9 (NIV), “Today, if only you would hear his voice, 8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.” This warning against hard-heartedness is repeated in the letter to the Hebrews in the NT, who quotes the passage we just read from Psalm 95. The author goes on to write, Hebrews 3:12–14 (NIV), “12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.” It’s this persevering faith, a faith that holds its conviction firmly to the end, that is the only faith we can trust. Persevering faith is the kind of faith that comes through a real relationship with Christ. This doesn’t mean that life will be easy or you’ll never have any questions or doubts. But it does mean that through all the ups and downs of life, you bring your needs, you bring your questions and doubts to God trusting that he can and will respond to you according to his goodness and faithfulness. We will likely never be in the same situation as the ancient Israelites, having to trust the Lord to provide water from a rock in the desert. But every one of us will face situations that will severely test our faith. Maybe some of you are in that situation today. Maybe you have some theological questions troubling your spirit. What are we to do? Well, as long as it is called “Today,” I’d like to close with two encouragements so you won’t be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness or fall into the trap of grumbling and quarreling with God. First, the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to record these three desert failures specifically for our encouragement. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “For everything that was written in the past [meaning, the whole OT] was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Ro 15:4). The water from the rock story was written to teach us so that we might gain endurance, encouragement, and hope. The Israelites who were alive during the Exodus may not have learned the lessons of Massah and Meribah, but later generations could — and, of course, we can today. We can see how loving and merciful and gracious and patient and kind God was back then. This is the same God we worship and serve today by faith in Jesus Christ. He doesn’t crush people with questions or doubts who bring them to him. Throughout the Bible, God often moves closer to people with questions and doubts because he wants people to know and be known by him. I hope never to be someone else’s negative lesson, but we can learn what not to do from other people’s failures, but only if we are humble and teachable. Are your eyes open to see? Are your ears open to hear? I hope so. Second, and finally, what are we to do when we’re in a bad situation and we can’t see a way out? We can be encouraged by the gift of the Holy Spirit. After the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for the sins of the world, he was buried, but on the third day, he rose again from the dead. After appearing to his disciples for forty days, he ascended back into heaven. But before he left, Jesus promised to send another Counselor who would guide his disciples in the truth, fill them, empower them, and sustain them through the wilderness of this broken world as they make their way to the Promised Land of the new heaven and earth. We, too, would have the holy Presence of God with us. One of the places Jesus promised the gift of his Spirit was in John 7:37–39 (NIV), “37 On the last and greatest day of the festival [of Tabernacles], Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. [were the Israelites thirsty at Massah and Meribah?] 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” [John explained,] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” In the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus back into heaven, he was glorified. Are you in a bad situation and can’t see a way out? Are you in desperate need? Are you questioning if God is with you? Let anyone who is thirsty come to Jesus and drink. Just as Moses struck the rock in the wilderness and streams of water flowed out, so when Christ, who is our rock, was struck by the cross, streams of living water flowed out to God’s people in the gift of the Holy Spirit which took place on the Day of Pentecost. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. Even when we don’t know what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us (Ro 8:26). But in our time of need, will we pridefully, stubbornly harden our hearts and put God to the test? Or will we turn in faith to Jesus, our Rock and our Redeemer, who saves us by faith but also provides streams of living water by his Spirit to sustain us? If so, then I’ve no doubt we will persevere and hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. Let us pray.
