Hydrate: For Thirst (Exodus 17:1-7)

How thirsty are you?

When was the last time you were thirsty? Really thirsty? In 2014, I had the privilege of traveling to a country on the other side of the world named Papua New Guinea to help train pastors in Bible exposition. Water, for visitors, is a scarcity because our digestive systems are not conditioned to their water. Dehydration is a constant threat. Our water had to be treated before we could drink it. On one particular visit to a village on the side of a mountain, I became ill, and soon became dehydrated. I was drinking a lot of water, but the only water available to drink was from a spring about a half mile up the mountain and had to be hand carried… and that limited the amount of water in the house. When the water was gone, missionaries from the mission station extracted me back to the mission station where there was plenty of water and electrolytes. In those moments, I realized how precious water is, how important thirst is, and how precarious our health is when there is not enough water.

There’s not enough water in today’s story. And there’s a lot of thirst. But this story is more than just about thirst. We’re continuing our Hydrate series on Living Water for life today with one of the more underrated stories in the Old Testament. In fact, other than the Israelites walking through the Red Sea or Abraham’s Covenant, few Old Testament stories are referenced in the New Testament like this one. There are numerous passages that allude to this episode in Israel’s history. There is a lot going on in this story. But we’re after one piece of it this morning.

A running theme: complaining and unbelief

We arrive in Exodus 17 with Israel just having left Egypt and God’s spectacular salvation through the Red Sea. God rescues Israel from Egypt by leading them through the sea on dry ground and drowning the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, including Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world at that time. Israel has begun its march to the Promised Land. There are hundreds of thousands of people headed to the land God had promised them in Abraham, but between Egypt and the Promised Land is a lot of desert. It’s still that way. And they are no more than a few days from Egypt, and they start complaining.

The story in Exodus 17 is the third time they have complained in a matter of weeks from being out of Egypt. First, they did have water, but it was bitter and they didn’t like the taste and they began complaining. Next, they begin complaining that they don’t have enough food. And a running theme begins to develop. We were better off in Egypt. We should have stayed in Egypt. It’s easy to say that they have short memories. But the human condition is only interested in “what have you done for me lately?” In spite of their complaints in unbelief.. God provides sweet water to drink and manna to eat.

There is no water.

But it’s still not enough. The third story in a row here in Exodus puts a capstone on the unbelief and complaining of Israel. They run out of water. This is a very real crisis. There is desperation. Without water, death comes quickly in a desert. The matter of water is a matter of life and death. But there’s more than meets the eye here. It’s not just that there’s no water. Listen to their words:

Exodus 17:3 But the people thirsted there for water and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

The people are thirsty. They complain. But they aren’t content to just raise the issue with a complaint. They are accusing Moses of intending to do them harm? They say you did this “to kill us”. They go beyond the crisis at hand, aimed at the motivations of Moses. It’s not just that Moses is incompetent. They seem to know Moses’ heart. And before we are too quick to judge, just take a look at any headline in the news where there is a crisis and all too often the opinion isn’t simply a commentary on the problem, but an analysis of what the person is thinking, feeling, believing, desiring. The Bible has strong warning about taking the extra step of attempting to explain what is going on inside of a person’s heart.

But this is what Israel is doing to Moses. They know his motives. He wants to kill them, so he concocted a scheme to get them through the Red Sea only to have them die of thirst in the desert. “We were better off in Egypt, and you knew it Moses.” And it’s all because of a very real crisis… no water. A matter of life and death spirals into accusations of murder.

Moses cries out.

It’s funny. They complain to Moses. Moses points out the problem.. they are testing God in unbelief. And when they escalate to an accusation of murder, he complains to God.

Exodus 17:4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!”

You have to wonder about this scene… God watching and hearing the people complain, and then Moses is complaining. Everybody is complaining. All the noise. Moses is saying, Are you hearing this? Are you paying attention? They’re about to stone me. Now it’s life and death for Moses. It’s almost like Moses is saying “Don’t shoot the messenger”. Regardless, Moses does have this right: he goes to the source. Moses takes his complaint to the One who is really responsible for the Red Sea miracle and the trek through the wilderness to the Promised Land.

God gives grace.

God hears Moses. And God gives grace. There is so much grace here. And this is where our views on this story often wander off into stuff that isn’t really the point. The point here is God’s grace in the middle of a lot of unbelief. God gives them water. Lots of water. Enough for hundreds of thousands. God hydrates. God quenches their thirst. And that really is the rhythm of God’s salvation throughout Israel’s history and our history:

Crisis.

Unbelief.

Crying out.

God gives grace.

Over and over and over again throughout the Bible, God is saving people even while they are in unbelief in the middle of a crisis. But we have to also note just how it is that God saves His people that day and continues to save them.

The Rock is Struck

Exodus 17:5-6 The Lord answered Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Make no mistake, this is a miracle. This is a supernatural event. Water from a rock. The last place you’d expect to find water. A dry desert completely lacking water. Moses strikes the rock and soon there is water gushing for thousands of people in the barren desert. That is unbelievable grace. It’s over the top. We’re not just talking about a tap of water, we’re talking about a torrent of water ready to provide drink for thousands of thirsty people, in an instant.

Real Problem: Unbelief

After it’s over, Moses points out the real problem in the people’s complaining: their unbelief. Moses names the place using words for complaining and testing and then says this:

Exodus 17:7 He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Wow. That runs deeper than even not believing God would provide for them. At the very beginning of the story of Israel being rescued from Egypt, God showed up as the Angel of the Lord at the burning bush. He takes on a human form. And he tells Moses that His presence is going to be with Israel every step of the way. The Angel of the Lord shows up the night they leave Egypt and single-handedly takes on Pharaoh and his army. And in the Pillar Cloud of Fire he leads Israel through the Red Sea. But the moment Israel is in crisis they question whether God is really with them as He promised. God comes to dwell with his people and the moment they thirst, it’s not a question of whether he’ll come through with water, but if He is even with them.

The Real Story: Jesus

In spite of the doubt, God still gives them grace. He gives them water. But he also gives them Himself. There’s one detail here that we tend to run right over. You hear this story told over and over and over… “OK kids, don’t be like the Israelites and complain. This story here is telling us we shouldn’t complain. God will always come through. So don’t complain.”

But that’s not the story. This isn’t a morality play about complaining. And it’s not even really about a spectacular miracle, though, that’s part of it. It’s about who is doing the miracle.

Exodus 17:6 “I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb;”

“I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb.” Just let that sink in. We’re so focused on the complaining and then the miracle of the rock being struck, that we miss God answering their question as to whether he is among them or not. God himself is there. Just like the burning bush. Just like the Red Sea. The one who told Moses his name is “I AM” is right there at the rock. God is visibly present with them at the rock and it is God, not Moses, providing Israel water from the rock. Personally providing water.

This is not lost on the New Testament writers. Paul sees the great I AM at the rock that day as Christ himself. He tells the church at Corinth that the Rock was Christ. The Second Person of the Godhead who is the Living Water hydrating Israel. But it’s not just Paul. Here’s what Jesus himself says at the festival of lights in Jerusalem:

John 7:37-39 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”

Streams of Living Water flowing from deep within Him. (Him, by the way, is Jesus). “From deep within” is a reference to the rock that day thousands of years before at Horeb. Jesus declares that day that He is the Living Water for thirsty people, just as He was Living Water for Israel a couple thousand years before. Israel’s Messiah was at the Rock that day. He was the Rock providing water. The Rock was struck to provide water.

This is our story. The One who was struck for us on the cross provides us living water again and again and again. For our thirst. For our spiritual thirst. That day with the Israelites Jesus is giving them life, the same kind of life he gives us in the water he provides. But, in the middle of unbelief he is giving grace. He is giving us His life.

How often do we say, “Jesus, are you really there? Are you really present?” We do that quite often. “Are you among us or not?” And while we may have those questions, at some point, those questions begin to attack his promise. His promise is this:

Hebrews 13:5 He himself has said, “I will never leave you or abandon you.”

That’s His promise to you and to me. It is never not true. Not only is he present, he is here for you. He is giving you himself. He loves you. In the midst of your doubt and in the midst of your unbelief, he still loves you. And he still shows up. And he still quenches your spiritual thirst. Jesus is hydrating you. Always.

Let’s Pray.

The Table

There’s another part to this story. When the Roman soldiers were taking Jesus down off of the cross, one of them decided Jesus wasn’t dead enough.. he ran a sword through Jesus’ side. And out of his side came blood, which would be expected, but also water. Early Christians made the connection between the water from Jesus’ side to the story of the rock providing water for Israel. And that’s Jesus for us this morning right now here at this Table. Jesus hydrates us with His body here at this Table for us. This is his grace for us. His love for us.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24-26 “May the Lord bless you and protect you;

may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”