Exodus 17:3-7
In those days, in their thirst for water,
the people grumbled against Moses,
saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?
Was it just to have us die here of thirst
with our children and our livestock?”
So Moses cried out to the LORD,
“What shall I do with this people?
a little more and they will stone me!”
The LORD answered Moses,
“Go over there in front of the people,
along with some of the elders of Israel,
holding in your hand, as you go,
the staff with which you struck the river.
I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.
Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it
for the people to drink.”
This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel.
The place was called Massah and Meribah,
because the Israelites quarreled there
and tested the LORD, saying,
“Is the LORD in our midst or not?”
BACKGROUNDER
Today we are at Part 3 of our series on Restoring the Image, the Journey from the Fall to the Cross. Last week we looked at how God’s Plan B was to start a new family with Abraham and Sarah, after Adam and Eve had turned away from Him. The journey continues as we meet Moses and Israel, the new people of God in the desert, a place without water. The people of Israel are all descendants of Abraham and Sarah: the twelves tribes are descended from their twelves great-grandsons who settled in Egypt.
When the Pharaoh, leader of Egypt, enslaved the chosen people, God chose Moses to lead them into freedom. They crossed the Red Sea, which parted miraculously when Moses struck it with his staff, to escape the pursuing Egyptian army. But only a short while after they are free, the people grumble. They had just complained about the lack of food in the previous chapter (Exodus 16) and God responded with a miracle of bread from heaven (manna) each morning and quails in the evening.
The burden of sin is expressed in rebellion against God. Had we kept the pure Image of God which he first gave to Adam and Eve, we would never have rebelled. But even the new chosen people, through whom God will restore His image in us, are still struggling.
God set them free from slavery. He fed them miraculously. But they are still grumbling. They are afraid that they will die of thirst. Haven’t they learned to trust? Don’t they know that God is for them, and will provide no matter what?
Poor Moses is stuck in the middle. Notice how even after Moses gives them water from the rock – the unthinkable, the people still wonder, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?”
God restores His image in us over a long time. We may experience great miracles which show us that He is with us, but still forget that He is always with us. It’s very easy to rebel, even on the journey into freedom where God leads us.
Jesus himself provided for the thirst of a woman who was neglected and excluded from her community (John 4). And he promised her, and many others (John 7) living water – that is, the Holy Spirit who refreshes and renews us. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to restore the image of God for all of us who have gone astray in rebellion.
And remember that Jesus himself knew thirst. He became as human as all of us. There on the Cross, he cried out, “I thirst”. There on the Cross, his side was pierced, and blood and water flowed out. (John 19)