Morning Light – Exodus 17

[Exodus 17] Water from the Rock. In the previous chapter, the Israelites complain about food supplies, and now they are in want of water. They quickly forget the miracles wrought on their behalf and complain to Moses, holding him responsible for their perceived suffering.

[Exo 17:1-16 KJV] 1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and [there was] no water for the people to drink. 2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore [is] this [that] thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the Rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the Rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not? 8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands [were] heavy; and they took a stone, and put [it] under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this [for] a memorial in a book, and rehearse [it] in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. 15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: 16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn [that] the LORD [will have] war with Amalek from generation to generation.

What is the relevance of the Old Testament record to the modern-day believer? Remember that the history of Israel is an example to us – providing us with metaphor, type, and shadow of our walk in the Kingdom. Paul speaks of this in his first letter to the Corinthians:

[1Co 10:1-2, 11 KJV] 1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; … 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

What Paul is getting at is that we in the New Testament era should regard the Old Testament canon, not as mere sacred history but instructions veiled in type, shadow, and metaphor in such a way that our spiritual lives are informed and instructed. In this chapter, we see the Israelites leaving the wilderness of Sin (meaning “the thorny place”) and coming to Rephidim, which means “resting place [such as a railing one would lean on].” So it speaks to those times in our life that we are called to be LEANING on the Lord rather than natural resources. The word LEAN means “to cast one’s weight to one side for support…” Peter spoke of this in his first epistle:

[1Pe 5:7 KJV] 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

The phraseology in the original language in the verse above is expressed as “casting all your care over together against the Lord.” What specifically are we to cast in terms of our cares upon the Lord? The word translated “care” in 1 Peter 5:7 applies explicitly to those things that keep us up and night and cause us to lose sleep or be distracted somehow. How do we cast our care upon the Lord?

We cast our care upon the Lord through prayer. Paul stated the following in 1 Tim. 2:8:

[1Ti 2:8 KJV] 8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Again we see expressed here the scope of our prayers – we are to pray about the things that make us mad and pray about the things that make us doubt. We need to doubt our doubts and bring those things that inflame our temper to the Lord. What if we speak out of turn? A friend of mine once said that God is more interested in a relationship than He is in respect. That doesn’t mean we have leave to rail on God or to dishonor Him, but He does understand our frame and desires honesty when we communicate with Him in prayer.

The people arrive at Rephidim (the place of leaning on the Lord), and they are frustrated and blame Moses as their leader. When is the last time you complained about your boss, or your spouse or your pastor? Many times such criticism is really misdirected anger when we are in truth questioning God Himself. We don’t have a leadership problem with have a God problem brought on by fear and faithlessness. What does Moses do in response to the complaints of the people? He cries out to God because the mob is so angry they are ready to stone him. Remember Jesus saying, “He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone?” We don’t throw rocks at each other today, but we do hurl dispersions, insults, questionings at those around us, particularly leaders when we are under pressure. Why has God not manifested the water yet? Because this is Rephidim, and He wants us to lean on Him and look to Him. The people weren’t leaning on God; they were looking to Moses, and Moses fell short in their eyes. God is a jealous God and when we look to others for what we ought to look to God for, God will see to it that the shortcomings of that leader, or spouse, or pastor or boss will be fully on display not to shame them but to rebuke our idolatry in looking to them for what we ought to be leaning upon Him for.

In v. 5-6, God instructs Moses to take his rod and smite a rock nearby to Mt. Horeb. This is interesting because, in years to come, the Israelites will return to Horeb to bury Aaron upon the occasion of his death. What does Moses do next? Moses follows through with God’s instruction because in v. 6, God tells Moses that He will be standing before the Rock and that water will come forth, and of course, after following through with the instructions, that is precisely what happens.

What is the object lesson for us here? Remember what happened at Marah? The water was poisoned, and Moses was instructed to cast a tree into the waters, which were rendered miraculously drinkable. That tree represents the Cross. What does this have to do with us? Because now at Rephidim, the instruction is the strike, the Rock and the Rock represents Christ. Paul makes this completely clear in his writings:

[1Co 10:4 KJV] 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

So first, we encounter the tree at Marah, representing the Cross. Now at Rephidim, Moses strikes the Rock that represents Christ. When Jesus was crucified, the Cross was erected then Jesus was smitten upon it, fulfilling the type and shadow revealed in these events at the initial destinations of the Israelites in their wilderness wanderings. What is so beautiful is realizing that the next time something like this happened, Moses was supposed to only SPEAK to the Rock. Although he disobeyed, the type and shadow are nonetheless made known to us. Jesus, our Rock was smitten on the Cross that we might henceforward SPEAK THE WORD ONLY and be saved, praise God!

In v. 9-14, after the water comes from the Rock, the Amalekites come and attack the host of Israel. Amalek is a type of the flesh. Once you come to Christ, there will be a battle, and there will be a struggle, not just outwardly toward those elements of a sinful world, but inwardly as well with our sinful nature. The battle is won when Moses holds up his hands in the battle. Moses represents the law. How do we overcome the flesh? By a reminder of the just and stern requirements of the law. You are either under grace or under law. When we act in disobedience, thwarting the law – Amalek (the flesh) prevails. When we accept the just requirement of the law and the fact that under the law all are concluded sinners due to the wages of transgression, then Amalek is defeated in our lives. This is where God becomes known to the people as Jehovah-Nissi, meaning Banner. A banner or flag is a symbol of fidelity and loyalty. The flesh is defeated when we live with the constant reminder that our devotion and loyalty ever belong to Jesus, our Jehovah-Nissi.