Another Test Of Their Faith

A few days after God provided Manna, the children of Israel left the desert floor to cross some of the foothills of Mount Sinai, an area known as Rephidim, as described in Exodus 17:1-3.  “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.  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?

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?”

Though they were following the pillar of cloud and fire exactly where God led them, the people again blamed Moses for the lack of water, accusing him of not caring what happened to them.  Moses became concerned that they might well turn on him, and prayed for help, in Exodus 17:4-7.  “And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

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.  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. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?”

God caused water to gush out of one of the large rock formations when Moses hit it.   Moses referred to the area as Massah, a place of testing’, and Meribah, or ‘quarrelling”.  Israel clearly failed the test of their faith.   Years later, in Numbers 33, they would return to the same place to be tested again. 

God proceeded to show them that it was him who was taking care of them, and not Moses, using the Amalekites, in Exodus 17:8-13.  “Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.  And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.  So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.  But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.  And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”

Clearly, if it was dependent on Moses, they would have been defeated.  Moses wasn’t even strong enough to hold up his hands in prayer long enough to gain the victory, and Joshua could not win except when Moses was praying.  It isn important reminder that success is due to God’s power, not our leadership. 

God specifically instructed Moses to record this event as a permanent reminder of what God had done, and reminding them that God would exact revenge on the Amalekites at the proper time, in Exodus 17:14-16.  “And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.  And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Genesis 36 tells us that the Amalekites were descendants of Esau.  Five hundred years later they attacked Jacob’s family in an attempt to destroy them.  God said he would hold that against them for generations, as they clung to the old enmity, and another five hundred years later, he would order Saul to destroy them in I Samuel 15.  Saul’s disobedience resulted in Haman’s attempt to kill all the Jews, in Esther 3-7.   Haman was a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag, who Saul was ordered to destroy.