Water to Live (March 12, 2023) Exodus 17.1-7

On January 9, 2014 over 300,000 people in the Charleston West Virginia area awoke to find that they had no water. At least water that was not fit to drink, brush teeth, brew coffee, even, they were told, to bathe in. What had happened? Approximately 10,000 gallons of the chemical Methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) had leaked from storage containers into the Elk River from where the residents water was drawn. What happened next was a telling story. Residents flocked to stores to buy bottled water. Tanker trucks brought in potable water that filled jugs and whose supply was limited. It was a disaster and it was an example of how vital water is to human life.

That same year another water crisis hit the news, this time in Flint, MI. You may have heard of it. Here lead was found to be in crisis levels in the water and again water had to be shipped in from outside the city.

In both of these crises the message was clear: we need water to live.

Water. We turn on the tap and it miraculously flows. We think nothing of it, until there is a problem with the water. There can be too much water (think of the monsoons that frequently inundate the country of Bangladesh or of floods that occurred recently in California) or there can be too little (think of the US southwest that is experiencing a mega drought and water is beginning to be rationed). Water. It is more important to us than we think.

The Hebrews knew a thing or two about water. They had watched the Nile turn to blood when Moses’ staff had touched it. They had seen it part in the Reed sea so that they could pass through on dry land and then swallow up Pharaoh’s pursuing army. They had even recently had water made pure for drinking. In each of these occurrences they knew that God was with them. God had shown them that this was true.

But now there is a new issue. There is no water. the Hebrews have come to a place known as Rephidim where there should have been plenty of water for the people. But there was none. This might have been due to the wadi drying up sooner than expected or hostile people who were not letting them near the water. All we know is that there is no water.

So, the people, knowing that God provided for them in the recent past with food (manna and quail) and with potable water turn to God again. But it is not with grateful hearts and minds. No, it is with anger and despair. The text tells us that “The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.”[1]They quarreled in way that would be similar to bringing litigation to Moses. In fact, Moses responds with why are they quarrelling with him and testing the LORD. But to no avail. The people are not satisfied with this response. We are told that “…the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?”[2]They begin to whine about being taken out of Egypt, not for the first time and not for the last. Here they are saying that it would be better to be enslaved than to be free and die in the desert. They complain against God by complaining to the one whom they can see, Moses.

Moses does the only thing that he can think of: He kicks the complaint “upstairs.” He goes to God and says “I do not know what to do with the people. Things are getting ugly. They are about to riot and any minute now they are going to stone me. What are you going to do about this?” For a man who stood in Pharaoh’s court and told him that they 10 struggles would come, Moses suddenly turns timid. And who could blame him? The people whom he led out of slavery, following God, are ready to kill him and are testing the one who has done so much for them.

God is unperturbed. God tells Moses that he is to go ahead or through the people. It would be similar to doing what we call walking the gauntlet. Moses was I’m sure walking the walk with fear and trembling. But there were others with him who were probably feeling the same emotions. This is because Moses is to “…take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.[3] They are to go where God leads them and to follow to where God will be. And that place is to a rock where they are told that God will be “standing”. This seems a long stretch for those who have not seen God, only the pillar of fire and cloud that have gone before them. Perhaps this is what was in front of the rock. Again, the narrator does not say. All we are told is that God will be standing at that rock.

When they reach the rock, Moses is to strike it, to hit it with force, like he means it. God promises that water will come out of it, enough for the people to drink. In later traditions (including Paul) it is said that this rock miraculously followed the people so that they never were thirsty again. But that is another story for another time.

Moses does as he is commanded to do and, it is implied, water comes forth. We are never explicitly told this. But the narrator is certain that it does because God has provided in the past.

Moses changes the name of the place to Massah and Meribah because the people tested God (Massah) and quarreled (Miribah). They did these things by saying “It the LORD among us or not?” They knew full well that the LORD was with them, they just chose to not acknowledge that.

Why did God not punish the people? This is before the covenant between God and the people is established. The people have not been told that they will be under the law that is coming. God is trying to prove to them that God is faithful and will always provide, maybe not in the way that is expected but will always provide. The Hebrews are finding out that God is not, as one commentator put it, a “sugar daddy” who gives only good things on request or demand. God will give good things in good time. God knows what is needed and will provide for those needs.

Are we like the Hebrews? This is a rhetorical question because we all know the answer. We complain when things do not go our way or when it seems hard. The people of West Virginia or of Flint might have asked if God was among them or not when they had no water. They knew what the Hebrews were going through. But God provided in the form of water brought in to end the thirst and other uses that we have for water. We expect miracles when the mundane is what is available. We expect God to be at our beck and call. God probably wanted to say that this people were annoying and not worth the time and effort. In fact, we are told that later God wants to wipe them out and start afresh.

Water. It is what keeps us alive and going. But where do we get our water? I am not talking about literal, wet water, but rather spiritual water? Do we seek it out or is it from another source? Jesus told us that if we believe in him we will have a source of water that will gush up in us like an artesian well, one that will never go dry. And we will never thirst again spiritually. The woman at the well wanted this water. She knew what it was like to be in a dry land like the Hebrews. She was spiritually thirsty and wanted what this man was offering.

We are offered the same water. Are we dry and thirsty to take of it and be thankful to the one who gives it or are we going to test the LORD and see if water is given to us? Water to live. We need it. It was and is given. All we have to do is drink it. Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.