Outline Strike the Rock! based on Exodus 17:1-7

I. Not enough water. We will look at Exodus 17:1-7 and we will think about the questions who, what, where, how, why, and when.

II. Who does Exodus 17 tell us about? The Israelites.

III. What was the problem now? Exodus 17:1 tells us, “There was no water for the people to drink.” In Exodus 17:4 Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

IV. What do we do when we are overcome with thirst?

V. Where did this incident in Exodus 17 take place? Exodus 17:1 states that the Israelites camped at Rephidim.

VI. At Rephidim. At Rephidim we cry with Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God!” (NIV 84) At Rephidim we echo the anguish of Psalm 63:1, “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (NIV 84)

VII. Why? Why do we become so thirsty? Five words. It might have been.

VIII. How? How do we get water? We need a staff. The staff of Moses was what the people of Israel needed. The staff of Moses that could change into a snake and back into a staff. The staff of Moses that was raised at the Red Sea and the waters parted. Exodus 17:5-6 tells us, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.’ And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.” 1 Corinthians 10:4 states, “(They) all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” The apostle Paul connected the rock to Jesus Christ. How?

IX. Another staff. Matthew 27:29-30 refers to another staff, “They put a staff in his (Jesus’) right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.” (NIV 84)

John 19:34 gives us another detail about Jesus, “One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” (NIV 84) There is that word again: water.

X. Soul-quenching words. Isaiah describes God’s soul-quenching love with these words, “The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.” (Isaiah 35:7) Ezekiel sees it as a river teaming with life, “Where the river flows everything will live.” (Ezekiel 47:9) Joel writes, “All the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house.” (Joel 3:18) (All from NIV 84)

The questions again are: Who?Israel and Moses. What? There is no water! Where? Rephidim. Why?It might have been. How? Jesus, the Rock of Ages. What question are we missing?

XI. When? We’re missing when. When does this water flow? When does this water come to you and me? When does this water quench your longing, aching heart? Remember that Jesus loves you so very, very, very much that His living, life-giving, forgiving, soul-renewing water flows from the cross for you and for me. When?

Right now! Amen.