The Israelites asked that question in the desert almost completely without faith. But it is also a good question for us to consider. How do we know that the Lord is among us? What, if anything, can tell us that he is among us? For us today, as for the Israelites then, the temptation is to look at our material needs and the Lord’s material blessings and make our judgment based on them. “God surely must be among us if our physical needs are met, if we are well-off financially, are successful in the world’s eyes, and are feeling satisfied with ourselves.” But I trust you know that, at the end of the day, that is entirely contrary to the character of biblical piety. We are to walk by faith, not by sight.

In our passage, God indeed pro­vides for the basic physical needs of his people, as he promised he would. He gives them water to drink so that they would not die of thirst. But most impor­tantly, he teaches them a lesson – he is with them even when they don’t feel it. And the way they and we can be sure of that is not because of our prosperity, but because of God’s unchanging word of promise to be with his people and provide for their needs.

Doubt and Rebellion⤒🔗

By the time Israel comes to Rephidim, they have been led by the Lord for quite some time. And they have seen his faithfulness to them. Just before, in Exodus 16, God miraculously provided manna – bread from heaven – for his people, even though they had grumbled against him. God could have immedi­ately punished them for their doubt. But we see how merciful God was with his people, teaching them to trust in him in various trials.

So when we come to Rephidim, God once again tests his people and teaches them about his provision for all their needs. The trial this time was not lack of food, but lack of water. If you have ever been tramping under the hot sun, you know how vital water is. And here, when we read that there was no water at Rephidim, it means that the closest water they knew of was at their previous camp, a day’s journey away. Only the strongest would not faint on such a long journey back. So how do the people respond? How would you respond?

Well, the people quarrel and grumble against Moses. That is worse than mere arguing. The original language helps us understand that it is as if the Israelites were “bringing a lawsuit” against Moses in court. In effect, they thought, “Moses, you are failing at your task of taking care of us. If we could, we would sue you and win!”

After Moses unsuccessfully tries to pacify the Israelites, their complaint gets more vicious: “Is this why you brought us out of Egypt, to kill us with thirst?” But v. 7 tells us that ultimately, they were doubting that their Lord was still in their midst and watching over them. They assumed that God’s presence in their midst meant that God would immedi­ately provide whatever earthly comforts they wanted. The Lord in their midst should protect them from any difficulties, or at least remove them quickly.

You know, there are primarily two dif­ferent attitudes to the Christian life we could take. One of them is to expect, to quote a book title, “Your Best Life Now,” a life free of suffering. Such an attitude demands now the glory that we will only have in heaven. The other attitude is the one Jesus Christ talked about in Matt 16:24: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” It is a life of suffering now, but glory in heaven. And it is a life of such joy in the cross of Christ that the world, with its avoidance of personal suffering at all cost, cannot know.

Understanding the Problem←⤒🔗

Unlike the Israelites, however, Moses re­membered the history of God’s dealings with his people. He recognised what was really at stake in the people’s grumbling – they were putting the Lord to the test: “Why are you complaining against me? Why are you testing the Lord?” After all, Moses was God’s chosen servant to bring his people out of Israel. It was through Moses that God had led them through the Red Sea. And it is through Moses that God has brought them to Rephi­dim. To grumble against Moses was to put the Lord to the test.

Sometimes, however, our grumbling against our elders can be a kind of putting the Lord to the test. That is, if our elders lovingly seek to bring Scrip­ture to bear on our problems and we reproach them with meddling. It is easy enough for us as readers of Exodus 17 to wonder, “How much longer will God bear with his people?” It is not so easy, perhaps, to ask the same question about our own hearts.

When Moses saw that the people were about to stone him, he did the best thing he could have done, pouring out his heart to God (v. 4). James 5:13 tell us, “Is anyone among you suffer­ing? Let him pray.” Moses was suffer­ing here, in spite of his faithfulness, and he is an example to us of what to do when we suffer. When you doubt that the Lord is with you, turn to him in prayer. Confess your guilt in doubt­ing his gracious promises and let them sink into you afresh. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Pray, too, that God would sustain you in your hardships.

God’s Gracious Solution←⤒🔗

In v. 5 and 6. The first thing that God tells Moses to do is to pass on before the same people who were about to stone him. He is not to hide from this angry crowd. You can be sure that all eyes would be on him He is not to move in front of the people alone, because some of the elders are to accompany him. They are impartial witnesses to what is about to happen. Most importantly, Moses is to take with him the staff with which he had struck the Nile. Let us think about this staff. That detail, striking the Nile, tells us that the staff is here an instru­ment of God’s judgment on his enemies. True, the staff also brings to memory God’s mercy to his people – Moses lifted up the staff when he divided the Red Sea. But here, we remember it as a rod of judgment.

Since the people are the guilty ones in this story, we should be wondering, “Will God tell Moses to strike and judge the people?” But no, Moses is to walk past the people, the staff in his hand. Judgment passes them by. What God says next is momentous: “Behold, I will stand before you there, on the rock at Horeb” (v. 6). As these words are the center of God’s speech to Moses, they are crucial (from Latin crux, cross) to the story. What is significant about God’s words is that nowhere else in Scripture does God “stand before” us. Rather, we are to stand before him who is the King of kings and Lord of lords: “You who fear the Lord, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him and stand in awe of Him” (Ps 22:23). When God says that he would stand before Moses, he is clearly taking the place of his guilty people, being taken to account in their place.

Finally, we see how God actually pro­vided water for his rebellious people. Moses is to strike the rock at Horeb on which God is standing and water will come out of it to quench the people’s thirst. And that is absolutely staggering! That same staff with which God had judged the Egyptians now strikes the rock on which God is standing before his people! At Horeb, God stood in the place of his accused people. The penalty of judgment was inflicted on him, not on his people. He bears their condemnation! No surprise that Moses later calls God the “Rock of our salva­tion” (Deut 32:15)!

And yet, this glorious story does not end on a happily-ever-after note. Rephi­dim, though a place of God’s remark­able mercy to his people, is not renamed something like “The Lord will provide”. Instead, it becomes Massah and Meribah, “putting-to-the-test” and “quarreling”. God is teaching us something here – that in spite of his amazing mercy, the people’s fundamental need remained and had yet to be taken care of. Israel’s – our – fundamental need is far greater than food and drink. It is sin, and unless it is dealt with, all of our lives should be called Massah and Meribah.

What Israel and we need the most is what that rock pointed to – God bearing our punishment and making atone­ment. When many centuries later the apostle Paul reflected on Israel’s time in the desert, he tells us that the people “drank from the spiritual Rock that fol­lowed them and the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor 10:4). At Horeb, in Moses’ strik­ing the rock on which God was stand­ing, we have a picture of the incarnate Son of God – our Lord Jesus Christ – being stricken for the transgression of his people. God gives us a picture of how he rescues us from our sin – God, as God the Son incarnate, receiving our penalty. On the cross, God in Christ was wounded for our transgressions, as the apostle Paul reminded the Ephesian elders that God purchased his church “with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). On the cross, Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our in­iquities (Is 53:5). At Horeb, the people did not die a thirsty death. Yet on the cross, Jesus did cry “I am thirsty” (John 19:28), dying a thirsty death to provide the water of life for us.

So back to our question, “Is the Lord among us, or not?” Friends, for our holy God to be among us, at work in his church and our lives, our sin had to be punished and in Christ, God nailed our sin to the cross. God is surely among us, not because we are so successful in this life, but because Jesus was stricken, smitten by God and afflicted in our place. In times of doubt, turn to “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13) to remind you that God is with all who trust in him. And when you are going through a desert in this life, remember those words from Romans 8:32:

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

Our God is among us!