Water in the Wilderness

We talked last week about God providing for our daily bread. In the story of Exodus, the Israelites had complained that they were starving to death in the wilderness. God provided manna and quail and provided for their daily needs every day after that. In this week we continue along the same storyline where again, the Israelites complained that they were dying of thirst. Today we will talk through this similar story that has a different issue at the heart of it. Last week we walked through God as our daily provider, the question this week for the Israelites and us lies at the end of the passage. Listen to Exodus 17:1-7

Exodus 17:1–7 NRSV

1 From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But 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?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Trouble in the text

The last verse speaks to the heart of the issue for the Israelites. Is the Lord among us? We see miracle after miracle so how could they ask this question? They were thirsty and could see no water, so source of relief to quench their thirst so they questioned if God was with them in this place. They had enough food now but why is there no water? Why were they going from one desolate place to another?

One scholar noted that if we remember Moses’ personal history, he had spent some time in this wilderness area. This is where he received his calling. I am sure he was at least in general, familiar with the land. He was following wherever God led. But these Israelites, they did not know this land. They did not know where to get relief from this thirst in the dry land. Why was Moses not taking them to an oasis since he should have known where they were?

At any rate, all the questions turned into grumblings. The grumblings them became so loud that Moses feared for his life. The people were threatening to stone him, or he felt that way at least. How was he going to deal with this situation with no water and a people threatening his life? He went to God with his problem.

Trouble in the world

As much as it pains me to say this, we have not fared much better in our current lives. How often do we wonder or complain if God really is here with us? If God was truly with us, why are we in this situation or why are we not rescued? While it may not be grumbling for water, we do thirst for manna and miraculous living water.

We sometimes doubt the goodness of God in the midst of crisis. Many of you know of or have a family member or friend who has been affected negatively in one way or another this year. It has been the year of pandemic, restrictions on personal and social life. Diseases this year, and not just covid, have taken more lives than any of us ever thought was going to happen. People have lost their jobs. People have been blocked from seeing their loved ones. It has been a struggle of a year to put it politely. In the midst of all of this, people have questioned, where is God? Is God still amongst us or have we been abandoned? We need to go to God with this struggle of fear and doubt.

Grace in the text

In returning back to our story, there are two items different in this story in the way in which God addresses the problem. First if you will recall in verse six, God said “I will be standing there in front of you”. God will show Moses that truly, God is in this place of thirst.

Second, God told Moses to take the same staff he had used in the plagues against Egypt and the parting of the Read Sea. This staff had been part of many events where lives were spared and lives were taken. When he struck the Nile River with us, the waters turned to blood. This river, the source of life for the Egyptians, was taken away. Now in this instance, the staff would be part of a miracle in providing life in a place where there was none.

God did not change his mind and abandon them because they complained. God was faithful in providing where there was no natural means for them to get water. It does not say exactly whether it was just Moses who saw God standing there or if the elders of Israel saw this sight as well. What it does say is that the elders saw once again, God bringing water from the last place water should be found. A miracle was performed right before there eyes so that they could be direct witnesses that this was no trick, this was nothing Moses was trying to fool them with. This was a direct witnessing of God’s presence and direct provisioning of their needs. God was already providing all the food they needed and now God was providing all the water they needed in this place.

Grace in our world.

In thinking about our own world and situation, where do we see God’s grace at work in our current crisis? Where do we see God’s presence in our lives? Where do we see God’s miraculous provision of living water that quenches our thirst?

First off, I will admit the church has been forced into a whole new way of doing things that we never would have planned otherwise. We still struggle with those adjustments today. However, for families that live apart, they can now actually worship together. For people who are home bound, they can worship alongside the people gathered in person. While we have struggled the changes, there have been positive moments of God’s grace providing what was not possible before.

Second, whereas our focus before in the United Methodist Church was on splitting from anger and disagreements, now our focus is on bringing healing and putting aside differences because we have all been forced into this predicament of trying to serve people who have greater need for peace and God’s grace and healing in their lives. In other words, our crisis of yesterday has been diminished in the face of an even greater crisis. This new crisis has made us band together to try and find ways in which we can serve the many people facing loss and hardships this year. No, the other crisis has not been resolved or gone away but we are learning to work together once again, despite out differences. This is God’s grace performing a miracle once again in our midst!