Ex 17:1-7 – Water From the Rock

Ex 17:1

1. Israel had done exactly as the Lord had commanded, they wandered from campsite to campsite in the wilderness. Yet they had nothing to drink.
   1. It is quite possible to be in God’s will and obey His commands, yet go through a difficult period of drought. Obeying God does not automatically mean that you will not have problems.

Ex 17:2-3

1. The people lacked water and their complaint is perfectly legitimate, but at the same time misguided. It was not Moses’ fault that they did not have water, he had only obeyed the Lord’s command. The people should have turned their cry of complaint to God instead.
   1. We can make the same mistake when we wrongly blame the pastor for the poor spiritual climate when we should instead be praying to God for an outpouring of the Spirit.
   2. Of course, a spiritual leader can mislead his congregation, but if the pastor has done what God has commanded without any revival, it is not the pastor’s fault and the congregation should turn to God in prayer instead of complaining about the pastor.
2. If the people had been more spiritually experienced, they could have trusted that if God had brought them into the wilderness, he would also provide them with water at the right time. The people are thus testing God’s patience by their complaint.
   1. In a way, one might think that Israel should actually have been more spiritually experienced than they appear to be here. After all, they had witnessed the incredible miracle of God bringing them through the sea dry.