After a few days in the wilderness of Sin, the Israelites came to Rephidim, and once again there was no water available. The people reacted as they had before, blaming for bringing them there, as Exodus 17:1-3 describes. “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?”
Unfortunately, complaining becomes a habit for many people,
and the Israelites were no exception.
They repeated the same complaints against Moses with no thought about
what God had done in each situation. Complaining
makes people increasingly unhappy, leading to frustration and anger. Moses began to fear what the people might do
if it continued in Exodus 17:4. “And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What
shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.”
God told Moses to gather the people and he provide water
once again, in Exodus 17:5-7. “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?” Moses called Rephidim “griping and
complaining.”
When people begin to complain and focus on the problems
instead of thanking the Lord for what he is doing, they begin to doubt God’s
presence, even when there are visible signs of his presence such as the various
miracles and the pillars of fire and cloud.
The habitual complainers would
eventually die in the wilderness, but the younger generation, led by Joshua
would learn to live by faith.
One of the reasons God had brought Israel the roundabout way
they had come was to avoid war with the philistines because they had the slave
mentality and were not yet ready to fight for their freedom. By the time they got to Rephidim, they were
becoming more united as a group, and had seen God’s power repeatedly. He allowed the Amalekites to attack them,
forcing them to depend on Him for the victory, 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.”
It was very obvious the victory was the result of God’s
action on their behalf, rather than their own military prowess, clearly
demonstrating the importance of their spiritual relationship with God. God directed Moses to record the events, in
Exodus 17:16. “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.”
God said he would wipe out all remembrance of the Amalekites
for their unprovoked attack on Israel.
The Amalekites were descendants of one of Esau’s grandsons. They were nomadic and warlike, attacking all
the various groups around them. Haman
the Agagite in Esther 3-8 was a descendant of the Amalekite king, Agag. Today,
they have lost their identity as a people.
Whoever wrote the book of Exodus based his
writings on Moses’ records.
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