I. Out of the Wilderness of Sin 00:00
…this morning, believing in faith that you do have the power to break the chains in our past, the chains in our life, the things that are holding us back from entering into your promises, Lord. And so we just declare by the power of the name of Jesus that today chains would be broken, eyes would be opened, and our hearts would be filled with the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. In your name, amen.
So we return to our favorite chosen people of God, that is, the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. It really gets to the point, when you start repeating and getting into these stories, where it’s like, “Man, is there a people who has ever been so meticulously explained and written about in their faults?” I don’t know if there is, in the history of the world. Most histories are, “And then we conquered these people, and then we conquered those people, and then they conquered us, but we got them back in the end.” That’s what you read in most histories of most nations. But Israel is just one story after another of their inadequacy.
But thank the Lord for that, because if I were honest about my story, it’s one story after another of my own inadequacy. But at the same time, just like Israel, it’s one story after another of God’s ability to save, to rescue, to bring me into his promises, into his purposes in my life. So as we read through this story today, let us remember that this story is about God’s provision in the midst of our sin, God’s salvation in the situations that are impossible to redeem, God’s ability to take what is the lifeless, dead, broken situation that is found in the desert and create life and redemption and build his people.
Last week we just talked about the manna in the desert, where he made the bitter water sweet; he gave them manna and quail. Well, now we’re going to talk about one of the most famous stories in all of the Bible, the water that came from the rock. We’ll start in chapter 17, verse 1:
1 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Exod 17.1
So let’s just start with the obvious. They moved on from the wilderness of Sin. What an awesome phrasing! And I will tell you, there is no reason to believe that the “Sin” in this name is anything related to the sin that we talk about, where you miss the mark. It’s just one of those fortuitous coincidences. “Sin” back then didn’t mean what it means today. It was just a name. In fact, they think it might have meant something to do with dryness, in the old Aramaic or whatever the etymology there is.
But we get this beautiful picture of Israel. What are they doing in this whole journey to the promised land? They’re moving out from the wilderness of Sin, and that’s what we are doing too in our life. And so we start with that, and they come to a place where there’s no water to drink.
II. Preparing to Meet God on the Mountain 03:33
And you’ve got to remember, where God is taking them is out of the wilderness of Sin, and he’s taking them to Mount Sinai. The journey here, to give you a quick overview, is: they leave Egypt, and he takes them to Mount Sinai, which is where God met Moses in the burning bush, and that’s where God shows up for them and gives them the Ten Commandments. He shows them his glory. All of these great stories happen at Mount Sinai, the mountain in the desert.
It’s not really a coincidence, believe it or not, that we choose to take our retreats in the mountains and in the desert, because there’s a special moment when you leave where you are. You head into a wilderness of the unknown, of the inhospitable, of the places where you’re trusting God for provision, and not your routine, your job, your everything else. You leave it and you say, “I’m going to meet God in the barren place, in the high places, in the mountain, in the desert.” This is all woven into the imagery of the Christian walk, and so we’re paralleling these Israelite people.
But there’s some preparation God wants to do in their hearts before they get to Sinai. And so today, if you’re going to the men’s retreat, why don’t you start asking God if there’s some preparation he wants to do in your heart before you go to the mountain to meet him? That’s an encouragement. We can do that with any retreat: the women’s retreat, the youth retreat, whatever retreat. Maybe take a month and think, “Man, I should focus some of my attention on what God might be doing.” Because you know what? He will meet you there. But he does ask you to prepare your hearts. And how much more will God be able to do in your life when you cooperate with his plan, when you lay the groundwork for his revelation on the mountain and in the desert?
So they get to this place where they’re on their way to the mountain to meet God, but guess what? There’s no water in this desert. “Therefore the people gathered together and they prayed to God and said, ‘Yahweh, you’ve delivered us thus far; therefore we will trust you to give us water.’”
III. Quarreling in the Desert 05:43
No, that’s not what happened.
2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And 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 grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” Exod 17.2–4
Now, our English translation is very weak on this point. It’s clear, if you look at the original language, that when he says they’re almost ready to stone me, what he means is, “They’re picking up rocks, and they’re going to start throwing them at me, God.”
So instead of, like I said, the people of Israel gathering together and asking Yahweh, their benevolent provider, the one who rescued them from Egypt, the one who just (within the past lesson we just read) provided manna in the desert, who made the bitter water sweet, instead they returned right back to grumbling, to quarreling, to complaining. They demand their right to water: “Moses, give us water.” It’s not even a request.
How similar it is in our culture today, with the problem of entitlement. “Housing is a fundamental human right. Food is a fundamental human right. I should have a good-paying job that allows me to buy everything I want. I deserve it.” The desert place is about realizing that actually nothing is a fundamental human right. Every right is given from God, by his grace, his mercy. So when we approach the throne of grace boldly, we don’t say, “I deserve this.” We say, “Look at your Son, who died for us. He bought me this.” Let me rephrase that. When we talk about approaching God boldly with our requests (Heb 4.16), we do it in the name of Jesus, because he bought it for us. You don’t deserve any of it. He gives it to you out of his abundance of love for you.
IV. Water Out of Dry Nothing 06:55
And that’s what he’s trying to teach the Israelites. He’s not trying to make their lives miserable. It might feel like that sometimes. I know it does in my own life: “God, I try to do everything you tell me to do, and I still end up short, or I still end up needing things. Are you trying to make my life miserable?” And God’s like, “No. I’ve worked really hard to get you to this place so that I could provide out of nothing what you need.”
And in fact, part of the problem with the Israelites this time is that there isn’t even a bitter spring. I can hear them talking to each other: “Well, we know God was able to change the bitter water into sweet, but he’s not able to make water out of dry nothing.” Every situation we come to, we find a reason to believe that God isn’t able to redeem it. “Well, this situation is different than that other time God came through. There’s nothing here. There’s no water for him to change.” But you know what? God wanted to do something different, so that they could see how much better he was than they already thought.
As he brings them on this journey, every time he shows up for them, his goal is for them to walk away from it going, “Well, darn, I underestimated him again. I underestimated his goodness. I underestimated his provision.” If he just kept doing the same thing the whole time, don’t you know they would just think, “That’s what happens when you throw a branch into a bitter spring. It just becomes sweet, because that’s how God always provided”? You know what happens every day when you get up and you can breathe? We think, “Well, that’s just how it is.” Or is it? Every breath comes from God. So God comes up with these creative ways to test the Israelites, not to fail them, but to train them to look to him for their resources.
And so Moses cries out to God. And what’s interesting is, it says he cries out to the Lord, “They’re going to stone me.” That language is the exact same language that the Israelites are said to use when they’re in slavery in Egypt: they cried to the Lord, and he heard them. So Moses is in that position. It’s like, “Man, we’re back here again. Now they’re going to stone me. God, help me!”
V. The Elders of Israel 10:30
5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exod 17.5–6
Okay, the first thing I have to point out here is that there’s a reason why God says things like, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel.” Why is he doing that? He’s trying to establish his government in the people of Israel. And so he’s giving Moses this authority. He’s like, “Bring all the leaders, round them up, bring them with you, so they can see that you are my guy, that you are in charge.”
That’s how God works today. If you haven’t gone to one of the elders of this church for help in your life, you’re missing out on the way that God loves to provide for his people. That’s why the elders of the church are in place: to equip the saints for the building of the kingdom. The elders aren’t here to build the kingdom; they’re here to equip you to build the kingdom. That’s what it says: he gave the church the elders for the equipping of the saints to build the kingdom (Ephes 4.11–12). God is establishing his authority in his people, and you’ll see there’s a couple of times where this becomes really important in the next couple of stories.
So he gives Moses the plan. He’s going to strike the rock with his staff, and out of the rock is going to flow the rivers of living waters.
VI. The Rock Was Christ 11:31
Now let’s go into First Corinthians chapter 10. This is Paul bringing up this exact story and linking it the same way that we’ve been doing throughout these passages. And he says:
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 1 Cor 10.1–4
The same spiritual food: that’s that manna. What? I don’t see that in the Old Testament passage. Paul had learned, through Jesus’ teaching, through his formation as an apostle, to read the entirety of Scripture with his Jesus glasses on. He could find Jesus in any story, because Jesus said everything that was written in Moses, the Law and the Prophets, was about me (Luke 24.44).
And so where do we find Jesus in this story? The rock that was pierced, that overflowed with living water. Now, why did God call out this idea: “Moses, take the staff with which you struck the Nile, and strike the rock”? Because he’s done a lot of things with the staff. He’s done several miracles that God could have referred to. Why did he say that? Because when Moses struck the Nile with his staff, it turned into blood. And when Moses strikes this rock, the living water is symbolic of the blood and water that came out of Jesus’ side on the cross (John 19.34).
In fact, in this picture you see Moses stabbing up into the rock, in the same way that a lot of icons portray the soldier stabbing Jesus’ side. He’s on the same side. He’s looking up into this rock crevice, and he’s stabbing into the rock. The symbolism is deliberate. Jesus is pierced that we might have rivers of living water, and in the same way the rock is pierced.
So when you think, “God, why did you provide that way? Why did you have to do it this way?” he has a reason. “Why didn’t you provide yesterday? Why didn’t you have this person help me? Why couldn’t I just figure it out?” Because he wants to teach you something. So ask him, “God, what are you doing in this situation?” especially when it’s hard, especially when you’re between a rock and a hard place.
In fact, where is your provision when you’re between the rock and the hard place? It’s in the rock. It’s in the very situation that you think is killing you. There are so many times in our life where we feel like the burden, the weight of the world, has come upon us, where we cannot overcome this mountain or this rock, and God’s saying, “Strike the rock, and see me provide.”
Now, what does that mean in your life? It depends on the situation, but it definitely means inviting God to show you where he is in your situation. “God, where are you in this place?” In even the most difficult of circumstances, the biggest tragedies, the overwhelming failures, God is there. That’s where he wants to meet you. That’s where he wants to provide for you, because he knows us. He knows that we will look to anything to fix our problems before we look to him. So sometimes he has to create a problem in our life. He has to put a stone in the way, so that there’s nowhere else for us to go except to him.
VII. Living Water 16:03
And then we see Jesus, of course, explaining what this water truly is, and this gets to the heart of the lesson that God’s trying to teach us in the Israelites this morning. In John chapter 4, verse 10, Jesus answers the Samaritan at the well:
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” John 4.10
A couple of verses later, Jesus says (referring to the well):
13 “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4.13–14
Did you know that God’s concerned not just with providing the way out of your current situation, but with making you a fountain of living water that transforms your entire life to one of abundance and connection? God is actually not just looking to give you the amount of money you need to conquer your situation, the time you need to fix the problem, or the miraculous solution to the problem. He is concerned with something far greater, and that is digging in you a well of living water, where no matter where you go, what situation you find yourself in, you still have the Spirit inside of you to be your life, your provision.
The amount of times that Israel complains of being hungry and thirsty in the chapters that follow this (and then they repeat it in Numbers, and they repeat it in Deuteronomy) is absolutely astronomical, because they never get it. The point isn’t to fill their bellies or to quench their thirst. The point is to be like Paul, who could say, “I am content in all things” (Phil 4.11), whether I’m being beaten with stones, whether I’m being thrown in prison, whether I have an abundance of food, whether I’m in the best place. “I’m content, because Christ is in me. And if I die, then guess what? I get to be with Christ. And if I live, then I get to suffer with Christ.” Thank God! What a perspective.
Over and over again the Israelites think, “Well, God gave us a meal that time. Is he going to come through this time?” And God’s like, “You’re missing the entire point. The point is that I’m the one who feeds you. I’m the one who fills you up. And with me, you will never thirst.” That’s what Jesus says: whoever has this water will never thirst. “Well, I’m kind of thirsty right now. What did he mean? That wasn’t just for effect? I really did need a drink.” He’s trying to say that there’s a thirst that is far more important than whether you ever get another drink of aqua, whether you ever get a drink of H2O. There’s a thirst in each of our souls, and we try and fill it with everything, but it can only be filled with him.
VIII. Jesus Is the Promised Land 18:19
He gets one message across in all of Christianity. If you can get this one thing, then you will know the secret of Christianity. The one thing is this, and I’m spoiling the story here: Jesus is the promised land. That entire journey to a mythical place flowing with milk and honey… Yes, there’s a geographical place that God had promised them, that he was bringing them to. Yes, he cares about your daily needs, your bodily needs. But in order to be the type of person who can live in the abundant promised land, you have to realize that it’s all about finding him.
This is why. Remember how we’ve been saying lately about these Israelites that the problem was they got out of Egypt, but they didn’t get Egypt out of them? They’re still slaves in Egypt in their mindset. And what does a slave do when they’re not fed? They rail against their masters and demand their right. What does the son do when he’s not fed? He trusts his father to provide. There’s a completely different dynamic here. And if they took that slavery mindset, that thing in their soul that still saw themselves as slaves, into the promised land, they’d just make another Egypt. What is in you comes out of you. And if the Israelites, who were enslaved by Egypt, took that slavery mentality, that grumbling, that complaining, that quarreling, into the most bountiful land in the entire world, it wouldn’t take them but a generation to become another tyranny, because what is in them would become what is around them.
So first God has to create the promised land people before he can bring them into the promised land. And the journey can be as long as you want it to be. It takes time, but when you surrender to God, you get on the fast track to his purposes in your life. When you invite him in to change those parts of your heart, when you pursue him, he transforms you internally, when you stop focusing on the external and focus on him.
I have that conversation daily with my wife, where it’s like, “Man, we’re struggling in this area.” And I have to keep remembering, “Wait, hold on. That’s the external problem. What is the internal solution? Why am I afraid here? Why am I angry? What’s going on?” Because I want to be a promised land people, and that’s what God wants us to be.
IX. Meet God in the Desert 21:56
I love this quote by C. S. Lewis that says, “Die before you die. There’s no chance after.” It’s a great pithy quote. “Die before you die. There’s no chance after.” Take up your cross and follow God, because you know what? You only get one life to live. “You only live once” is false: we get to live for eternity. But how you live right now, that changes eternity.
I’m going to rephrase it: meet God in the desert; there’s no chance after. If you don’t learn to meet God in the desert, on the mountain, in the difficult place, then you will not dwell with God in the promised land. You may be where he brought you, but you’re not going to be living with God. You’re not going to be dwelling with him.
So what is this all about? Is it about striking a rock and getting that H2O that they needed in the desert? No. It’s about finding your sustenance in God, and therefore nothing else will ever harm you. Now, I use that word harm liberally. I’m talking about: nothing else will detract from your eternal weight of glory if you find all your sustenance in him. It doesn’t mean you won’t get sick. It doesn’t mean you won’t hurt. It doesn’t mean you won’t go through some of the most difficult experiences that could ever happen, that have happened to Christian martyrs, have happened to Christian people who lived much holier than any of us, and yet they were tortured, killed, their families killed. But they found their sustenance in God.
I don’t want this to be a dark message, like, “Oh, the Christian life is so hard.” No. God wants to bring you to a land flowing with milk and honey, physically, literally. He wants to bring you into abundance. He wants you to have that house, that job, that car, that family, whatever it is you’re praying for, whatever it is he’s promised you. He wants to bring it there. But first things first: he’s got to bring it forth in your heart. He’s got to teach you to trust him. Because otherwise all that house will be is the reason why you don’t have to pray anymore, because you got what you needed. Or otherwise that family will be the thing that becomes your idol, that becomes the god that you serve, and you’ll have spent all of your time and energy on your family and forgotten the one who gave you life. So he has to change our hearts in the desert. He has to meet us on the mountain, so that he can bring us into the promised land.
X. Is the Lord Among Us or Not? 24:15
And that brings us to the chief problem with this story. They sum it up in this:
7 And he called the name of the place Massah (testing) and Meribah (contention), because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Exod 17.7
They actually didn’t say that in the story, but their actions did. Their grumbling, their complaining, their testing Moses, their demanding their right: what they were really saying through all of that bad attitude and behavior is, “Is God among us or not? Where is God in this difficult circumstance?”
You see, God has to answer that question in our hearts. Where is God? Is God among us? But once you answer that question, you’ve passed the test. Now, you still have to remind yourself. You still have to grow. You still have to come to the place of testing, where your faith is deepened, where your understanding is deepened. But there is no other test. It’s like: is God with you, or is he not? Then act like it. Act like you’ve got the God of the universe on your side. Act like you’ve got the God who literally crossed heaven, earth and hell to save you. Act like it. Stop complaining, and take some time to meet with him. He’s taking eternity to be with you. Take some time to look to him when life’s hard. When you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, God’s provision is in the rock. Amen.