Moving Beyond Massah

Deuteronomy 33:8 KJV 1900

And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, Whom thou didst prove at Massah, And with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

Introduction

Exodus 17:1–6 KJV

1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 4 And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Moses gave this place two names:Massah and Meribah, names combined and separated variously in the future references to this event.

Massah: Temptation/Testing - speaks of doubt and unbelief (literally: melting, as in despair)

Meribah: Contention - speaks of resistance and disobedience

Meribah without Massah: Obvious Opposition to the Lord

At a later part of their time in the wilderness, they were back at this place, but obviously more hardened in their determination to get what they wanted for themselves.

Numbers 20:1–13 KJV

1 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2 And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? 5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. 6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. 7 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. 9 And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. 13 This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

Notice v.13. This time there is not the tension that existed in the initial case. God had shown himself, and it was now obvious that the people were opposing God.

Moses relied on old habits instead of a new word from God - this was unbelief

The Lord confirms this in Ps 81.7, as he laments what could have been:

Psalm 81:7–16 KJV

7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah. 8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; 9 There shall no strange god be in thee; Neither shalt thou worship any strange god. 10 I am the Lord thy God, Which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; And Israel would none of me. 12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: And they walked in their own counsels. 13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, And Israel had walked in my ways! 14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, And turned my hand against their adversaries. 15 The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: But their time should have endured for ever. 16 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: And with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

God was testing them; he was decoupling the Massah from the Meribah. By proving Himself again, he was finally and completely unveiling the truth of their faith, and the fact that they were following their lusts rather than their Lord

Had they listened to God, their enemies would have been subdued, and they would have been fed and satisfied with honey out of the rock.

Massah without Meribah reflects the emphasis on the doubt that arises

Deuteronomy 6:10–16 KJV

10 And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, 11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; 12 Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. 14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; 15 (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. 16 Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

Don’t forget God’s presence when things get comfortable in your Promised Land

Deuteronomy 9:22 KJV

22 And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, ye provoked the Lord to wrath.

This is recounted among other instances of unbelief, like the golden calf and the unbelief of the good report regarding the Promised land

Massah and Meribah Together

Massah/Meribah are connected in the initial event, suggesting that a connection between the peoples’ doubt and their desire. And that connection introduces a tension into the experience of doubt, where that doubt may be an uncertainty or hesitation, or it may be a stubbornness in our own will to admit the presence of God.

The implication here is that Massah alone has two possible outcomes; it can resolve to confidence in the presence of God or contention with God in pursuit of your own heart’s inclinations.

Two Lessons from Massah

Lesson 1: Don’t tempt the Lord your God

In Psalm 78, the Psalmist recounts the failures of Israel to trust God, and all the ways their stubbornness provoked him. Among them was the provoking in the wilderness

Psalm 78:15–22 KJV

15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink as out of the great depths. 16 He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers. 17 And they sinned yet more against him By provoking the most High in the wilderness. 18 And they tempted God in their heart By asking meat for their lust. 19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? 20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed; Can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people? 21 Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth: So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel; 22 Because they believed not in God, And trusted not in his salvation:

Lesson 2: God is Faithful

The other thing we find in Psalms is that God is faithful, and his deliverance extends all the way through our doubts.

Psalm 105:41–45 KJV

41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; They ran in the dry places like a river. 42 For he remembered his holy promise, And Abraham his servant. 43 And he brought forth his people with joy, And his chosen with gladness: 44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: And they inherited the labour of the people; 45 That they might observe his statutes, And keep his laws. Praise ye the Lord.

In this Psalm, the culminating act of God’s deliverance from Egypt was his opening of the rock, for he was faithful to his promises.

Massah: the Place of Decision

Don’t follow Meribah; follow Faithfulness

1 Corinthians 10:1–13 KJV

1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

What is your center of focus - yourself and your dissatisfaction? Or God and his faithfulness?

Psalm 95 KJV

1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, And make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is a great God, And a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: The strength of the hills is his also. 5 The sea is his, and he made it: And his hands formed the dry land. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down: Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. 7 For he is our God; And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, And as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, Proved me, and saw my work. 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, And said, It is a people that do err in their heart, And they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath That they should not enter into my rest.

Hebrews 3:7–19 KJV

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. 16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Conclusion

Deuteronomy 33:8 KJV

8 And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, Whom thou didst prove at Massah, And with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

Among the blessing Moses pronounced on the people of Israel, his blessing on Levi, the priesthood, is that the decision process (Urim and Thummim) would be with the Holy One.

The blessed outcome is the one where your decision is resolved to trust the presence of God

He 3.7-19

We are made partakers if we hold onto our confidence (v.14)

Conclusion

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways

God has proven himself, and he’s proving you

Resolve today. Evaluate your doubts for self will. Cast them aside, and embrace the goodness of God.

Become as the children. Adopt a simple faith.

Pursue the presence of God.

God has proven himself; he's passed the test

Are you following your lusts, or your Lord?

Massah, and the fork in the road: I did it my way? Or, he’s been faithful to me?