Read Exodus 17:1-16.

Introduction⤒🔗

The wife of a home missionary writes, “A day one winter stands out like a boulder in my life. The weather was unusually cold, our salary had not been regularly paid, and it did not meet our needs when it was. My husband was away much of the time, traveling from one district to another. Our boys were well, but my little Renee was ailing, and none of us were decently clothed. I patched and re-patched, with my spirits sinking to the lowest ebb. The water gave out in the well, and the wind blew through cracks in the floor. At the time when I needed it most, my faith began to waver. Early in life, I had been taught to take God at His Word, and I thought I had learned the lesson well. Now a daily prayer for forgiveness was all I could offer.

“Christmas was coming; the children always expected their presents. The boys were each craving a pair of skates, and Renee wanted a nice new doll. I knew it seemed impossible, but oh how I wanted to give each child their present. It seemed as if God had deserted us.

“The morning before Christmas my husband, James, was called to see a sick man. I packed a piece of bread for his lunch, it was the best I could do. That was a dark and hopeless day. I coaxed the children to bed early. When Renee was tucked in, I listened to her prayer. She again asked the Lord for a doll, and skates for her brothers. With a bright face she whispered to me, ‘I think they’ll be here early tomorrow morning, Momma.’ I sat alone and gave way to the bitterest tears.

“Before long James returned, chilled and exhausted. He pulled off his boots; the thin socks slipped off with them, and his feet were red and cold. ‘I wouldn’t treat a dog that way, let alone a faithful servant.”’ I said. Then as I glanced up and saw the hard lines in his face and the look of despair, I could tell that James had let go, too. He took my hand and we sat for an hour without a word. I wanted to die and meet God, and tell Him His promise wasn’t true; my soul was so full of rebellious despair.”

There are times in life when, like this Christian lady, or like Old Testament Israel, we are tempted to think that the LORD has forsaken us. But because He is the LORD, the covenant God, He cannot forsake His children in Christ.

The LORD Will Not Forsake You, Even Though He May Bring You into Very Extreme Trials←⤒🔗

When we come to Exodus 17 we find the children of Israel journeying down into the extremely barren and mountainous wilderness of the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. They have been journeying along the western side of the Peninsula, a desolate region, but now they enter the very heart of this wilderness. Here we find them encamped at a place called Rephidim, a place where there was no water.

Since departing Egypt for the Promised Land of Canaan, Israel has encountered numerous trials, and now they face yet another trial, this one more severe than the previous. The waters of Mara (Exodus 15) were bitter, even to the point of being undrinkable, but at least there was water. There was a resource, (bitter water though it was), with which the LORD could work and change into sweet water. In the Wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16), there was no bread and they had used up their provisions; but, if need be, they could have begun to slaughter their cattle for food. But now, at Rephidim, they encounter their most severe trial to date: there is no water; there is nothing at all down here.

Why has the LORD brought His people, His chosen ones, to such a place as this? He has done so in order to reveal Israel’s heart, and His heart.

How does Israel react to this situation? The passage begins by informing us that they quarreled with Moses: “the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water so that we may drink!” (vs. 2) At Marah, they murmured against Moses: “The people grumbled against Moses, asking, What shall we drink?” (Ex. 15:24) There was a tremor of unrest. In the Wilderness of Sin, the whole congregation murmured: “The whole congregation of the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness” (Ex. 16:2). Now there was a rumble of discontent. But here at Rephidim, there is open hostility against Moses: “Moses cried out to the LORD, What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me!” (Ex. 17:4)

The people make an impossible demand of Moses: “Give us water” (vs. 2). It is no longer a legitimate question, as was posed at Marah, “What shall we drink?” Nor is it an appeal, it is a defiant demand. Their demand is defined by Moses as a tempting and testing of the LORD. He confronts them with the question, “Why do you put the LORD to the test?” (vs. 2) It is one thing to humbly petition the LORD for our needs, indeed, the Lord Jesus teaches us to pray to our heavenly Father, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:10), but it is quite another thing to defiantly make demands of Him.

What will the LORD do with these people?

The Israelites have shown themselves to be ungrateful: never thanking the LORD for His past provisions. Contrast Exodus 15:1, “I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted,” with the silence that is found in Exodus 15:24-25,27 and Exodus 16:14-15,

²⁴The people grumbled against Moses, asking, What shall we drink? ²⁵Moses cried out to the LORD. Then the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the waters and the waters became sweet... ²⁷Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there by the waters. Ex. 15:24-25,27

Notice that no word of gratitude is recorded.

¹⁴When the dew was gone, there lay on the surface of the wilderness thin flakes, like frost on the ground. ¹⁵When the children of Israel saw it, they asked one another, What is it? for they did not know what it was. Then Moses told them, It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. Ex. 16:14-15

Again, no word of gratitude is recorded.

In neither of those last two instances do you find the children of Israel offering up thanksgiving to the LORD for His gracious and faithful provisions. Apparently, the mercies of the LORD were taken for granted by Israel. Is the same true with us? In our lives is there the same pattern of loud complaining in the face of trial and adversity, but silence when the LORD presents His gracious provisions?

The Israelites have shown themselves to be unteachable; they have not learned from their past trials. It is as though those trials have been wasted on them. Note the re-occurring pattern: 1) a God-ordained encounter with trial; 2) the insufficiency or the exhaustion of all human resources; 3) the need to look in complete dependence to the LORD, relying upon His ability, His mercy, and His faithfulness; and, 4) then comes the LORD’s all-sufficient provision for their needs and deliverance.

The Israelites have not become like their father Abraham. Faced with a severe trial, the requirement of offering up the promised son, Abraham said to Isaac his son, “God will provide” (Gen. 22:8). On the contrary, the Israelites have viewed their trials as distasteful annoyances, disrupting their lives and delaying their journey to the Promised Land.

They have failed and refused to see those trials for what they are: meticulously prepared works of God designed:

1. to produce spiritual maturity and fruit in the lives of His people, (note John 15:2b, “my Father is the gardener... ²he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it may bear more fruit,”) and designed
2. to reveal His glory to them, (cp. John 11:20, ”Jesus said to Martha as they stood before the tomb of her brother Lazarus, Did I not tell you that, if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”)

What does the LORD do?

He offers Himself as their Servant: “I will stand before you by [or, upon] the rock” (vs. 6). The Hebrew phrase used here frequently denotes the attitude and posture of a servant standing before his master.¹

The LORD sacrifices Himself for their sake. The LORD instructs Moses, “You are to strike the rock, and water will come out of it” (vs. 6). Here the LORD is graphically allowing Himself to be struck for the salvation of His people. He would permit Himself to undergo a far greater “striking” upon the cross of Calvary. In anticipation of that “striking,” the prophet Isaiah writes,

⁴Surely, he has borne our afflictions and carried our sorrows; but we regarded him as one who was stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted [as an evildoer]. ⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Isa. 53:4-5

The LORD will not forsake you; “He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32) The LORD will not forsake you, even though He may bring you into very extreme trials. When He does so, bear in mind that such trials are designed by the LORD to produce spiritual maturity and fruit in your life and to reveal to you His glory.

The LORD Will Not Forsake You, Even Though You May Be Subjected to Demonic Assault←⤒🔗

As Israel breaks camp in this rugged wilderness of Rephidim, just after the LORD has graciously supplied them with water, they are attacked by the Amalekites. Here was a cruel, indeed, a demonic attack by a heartless, merciless enemy. Note the commentary provided in Deuteronomy, “Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. ¹⁸When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God” (Deut. 25:17-18).

Who were the Amalekites?

They were a fierce nomadic tribe living in the desert wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula. Amalek was the grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:12)—Esau was the twin brother of Jacob (a.k.a. Israel)—whose descendants became the archenemy of Israel.

What we find here is no mere squabble between two nomadic tribes, no mere dispute over land and water. On the contrary, what is involved here is nothing less than that spiritual warfare that traces its origins back to Jacob and Esau, and back to the distinction God made between the offspring of the woman (i.e. the redeemed) and the offspring of the serpent (i.e. the world of unconverted mankind under the dominion of the devil). Here is an occurrence of that spiritual conflict first foretold back in Genesis 3:15, “The LORD God said to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This incident is an episode in that spiritual warfare; and, consequently, it is a demonic assault upon the children of Israel.

At what times are you most likely to encounter this type of demonic assault?

One such time is just after the LORD has revealed His glory to us. This attack occurs immediately after the LORD’s gracious and miraculous provision of water. Consider a similar circumstance in the life of the Apostle Paul, described in 2 Corinthians 12:7, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given to me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me.” (Note: The Greek word translated, “thorn,” can also bear the meaning, “stake.”) After God has done a great work on behalf of His people, He sometimes permits the devil to launch a counter-offensive; but always on a limited level, never matching or exceeding the work of God.

Another time when we may expect to encounter a heightened degree of demonic opposition is just before the LORD is about to perform a mighty work of grace or deliverance. The ultimate instance of this is to be found in the events of our Lord’s trial and crucifixion. The Lord Jesus declared to His enemies, “this is your hour, and that of the power of darkness” (Lk. 22:53b). In this passage the Lord Jesus describes the spiritual condition that prevailed at the time He went to Calvary to accomplish the ultimate work of grace and victory.

Yet another time when you may expect to encounter a heightened degree of demonic opposition is when you find yourself in a weak and exhausted condition (spiritually or physically). As noted, this was the case with Israel when they were attacked by the Amalekites. It was also the case when Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness: “After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³The tempter came to him...” (Matt. 4:1-3).

At times, the LORD will hand His children over to the devil as a chastisement for willful and defiant rebellion. Note that the announcement of Amalek’s attack comes immediately after the statement that Israel had tested the LORD:

⁷He called that place Massah and Meribah, because of the children of Israel’s quarreling and because they tested the LORD, saying, Is the LORD with us or not? ⁸Then the Amalekites came and fought against Israel in Rephidim. vs. 7-8

A New Testament example of this phenomenon is found in 1 Corinthians 5:5, where the Apostle Paul instructs the Corinthian church, “deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his sinful nature, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord Jesus.” Here is a passage that speaks of the discipline enacted against a Christian man who persisted in sinful conduct; in that particular instance the LORD employed the devil as an instrument for inflicting His disciplinary measures, intended to induce the man to repent.

The LORD will not forsake you, even though you may at times be subjected to demonic assault. Just as Joshua won the victory over Amalek (vs. 13), so the Lord Jesus has won the ultimate victory over the devil. Speaking in anticipation of the cross, Jesus declared, “Now has come the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world shall be cast out” (John 12:31). Just as Moses interceded for the children of Israel (vs. 9-13), so the Lord Jesus intercedes for us. As part of that intercessory prayer, our Lord petitions His Father, “I am not asking that you would take them out of the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one” (An. 17:15).

The LORD Will Not Forsake You; He Will Prove Himself to Be Wonderfully Faithful←⤒🔗

The LORD proved Himself to be wonderfully faithful to the children of Israel:

• When His people needed water, the LORD condescended to be their divine Servant and supply their need.
• When His people were viciously assaulted by the Amalekites, the LORD rose up and asserted His divine power and dominion to win the victory on their behalf.

The LORD also proved Himself to be wonderfully faithful to that home missionary pastor and his family. That pastor’s wife continues their story:

As James and I sat together in silence and rebellious despair, we heard a loud knock at the door. There stood Mr. White. ‘A box came by express just before dark. I reckoned it might be for Christmas, so I brought it by as soon as I could,’ he explained.

Without speaking, James found a chisel and pried open the box. He first drew out a thick red blanket; underneath it was a trunk full of clothes.

It seemed at that moment as if Christ fastened upon me a look of reproach.

James sat down and covered his face with his hands. ‘I can’t touch these things!’ he exclaimed. ‘I haven’t been true, just when God was testing me. I know now how to preach the awfulness of turning from God.’

The box contained a warm suit of clothing for James, a new dress for me, a pair of arctic overshoes for everyone, new suits for the boys, and a little red dress for Renee.

Also contained in the box was a note quoting Isaiah 41:13, ‘I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Fear not, I will help you.’

And at the bottom of the box there were two pairs of ice skates and a beautiful wax doll.²

The LORD will prove Himself to be wonderfully faithful to us, too, as we trust Him. In the words of the hymn writer, Frances R. Havergal,

Every joy or trial falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love.
We may trust Him fully all for us to do,
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. What dilemma do the people of Israel experience at Rephidim? See Ex. 17:1 How do they react to this situation? See Ex. 17:2a What have they forgotten? See Ex. 15:23, 25a How often, like Israel, do you forget the LORD’s past provisions when you encounter new trials?

¹The entire congregation of the children of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. Then they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Ex. 17:1

^2aTherefore, the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water so that we may drink! Ex. 17:2a

²³When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of that place, because it was bitter. That is why it was called Marah. ²⁴The people grumbled against Moses, asking, What shall we drink? ²⁵Moses cried out to the LORD. Then the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the waters and the waters became sweet. There at Marah, the LORD made a statute and a decree for them, and there he tested them. Ex. 15:23-25

2. When the people quarreled with Moses, how does he describe their conduct? See Ex. 17:2b; note, also, vs. 7 Do we humbly acknowledge the fact that it is the LORD’s right, as God, to test us (Ex. 15:25b); but, as mere mortals, we have no right to test God? Note Isa. 45:9.

²...the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water so that we may drink! And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? Why are you testing the LORD? Ex. 17:2

⁷[Moses] called that place Massah and Meribah, because of the children of Israel’s quarreling and because they tested the LORD, saying, Is the LORD with us or not? Ex. 17:7

⁹Woe to him who strives with his Maker! ...Shall the clay say to him that formed it, What are you making? Isa. 45:9

3. What does Moses fear the people are about to do to him? See Ex. 17:4b How do we treat the leaders the LORD has appointed to govern His church and minister His word? See Heb. 13:17 (Note: The Greek word (πειθω) translated, “obey,” also has the connotation, “pay attention to,” or, “listen to.” The word (υπεικω) translated, “be submissive,” also has the connotation, “accept [or acknowledge, their] authority [as given by Christ].” If you are in a position of ministry, are you aware that you will give an account of your ministry? Are you worthy of being remembered for your Christian life and conduct in the way the writer of Hebrews exhorts his readers to remember their former leaders? See Heb. 13:7.

⁴Then Moses cried out to the LORD, What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me! Ex. 17:4

¹⁷Obey those who have the rule over you, and submit [to them], (for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who shall give an account); that they may do this with joy, and not with grief; for this would be unprofitable for you. Heb. 13:17

⁷Remember them that had the rule over you, men that spoke unto you the word of God; and considering the issue of their life, imitate their faith. Heb. 13:7

To consider the “issue of their life” means to consider the kind of life they lived, the conduct that resulted from their commitment to Christ.

4. When faced with this predicament, what does Moses do? See Ex. 17:4a On a later occasion, under similar circumstances, how will Moses react to the people in a way that is very displeasing to the LORD? See Num. 20:10-11a In which way do you react when you find yourself in a situation similar to that in which Moses found himself? How can you maintain your self-control in such a trying situation? Upon whom must you rely? See Gal. 5:22-23. 

⁴Then Moses cried out to the LORD, What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me! Ex. 17:4

¹⁰Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, Now listen, you rebels! Shall we bring forth water for you from this rock? ^11aThen Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff... Num. 20:10-11a

²²The fruit of the [Holy] Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control... Gal. 5: 22-23

5. What is the next calamity that befalls Israel in the barren region of Rephidim? See Ex. 17:8 How does Israel gain the victory? See Ex. 17:11 When you, as a Christian, encounter opposition or even persecution, do you resort to the LORD for grace and deliverance? When Moses’s arms grew weary, who came to his aid and what did they do? See Ex. 17:12 Do we assist and encourage Christian brethren who are laboring for the LORD and seeking to live the Christian life?

⁸Then the Amalekites came and fought against Israel in Rephidim. Ex. 17:8

¹⁰Joshua did as Moses instructed him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. ¹¹As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites prevailed. ¹²When Moses’ arms grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady until sunset. Ex. 17:10-12