From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do for this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Exodus 17:1-7

God’s people asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7).  What caused them to ask such a question? 

The event occurred early in their journey in the wilderness.  They had recently witnessed and experienced the plagues in Egypt.  With each plague it became increasingly clear that God orchestrated the events.  Even Pharaoh asked Moses to pray for him (see Exodus 8:28, 9:28, and 10:17).  They witnessed God’s holy wrath and amazing grace through the Passover (see Exodus 12:1-32).  They left Egypt with the Egyptians’ silver, gold and clothing (see Exodus 17:34).  They saw God’s pillar of fire protect them and His pillar of cloud guide them (see Exodus 13:21-22).  They saw God part the sea for their miraculous escape from Pharaoh’s army (see Exodus 14).  When they encountered bitter water in the wilderness, God turned the water into sweet water (see Exodus 15:22-25).  God led them to an oasis with twelve springs of water and palm trees at Elim (see Exodus 15:27), and He continually provided a day’s ration of manna and quail for them to eat (see Exodus 16). 

They had seen God’s wrath and had experienced His protection, provision and glory, and in the next paragraph we see them question whether God is among them.  How could they turn so quickly?

Before we consider the people of the Exodus with derision, we should consider the conditions they faced.  They were in a rugged, rocky, arid place.  The Sinai Peninsula is virtually void of vegetation, the land is mountainous with jagged rocks, and it is unbelievably dry.  Standing at Mount Sinai, surveying the landscape, it seems Moses would have been amazed to see any bush, much less a burning one.  It is hard to imagine walking very far, even with the best hiking shoes available today, much less wearing whatever version of sandals they wore then.  600,000 men plus women, children and livestock (see Exodus 12:37-38) traveled the land and needed food and water.  Water is not a luxury; it is essential for life.

God led them away from the oasis at Elim, through the Wilderness of Sin heading toward Sinai, and they had no water.  Yes, they had experienced God’s mercy and miraculous provision, but they were thirsty, and they feared they would die.  Hour after hour they continued through the wilderness wondering whether they would have enough water to survive that hour.  Had God abandoned them?  They asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7).

God understood their question to be testing Him, and that was so offensive to God, He reminded them of the incident forty years later, saying through Moses,

“When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you have eaten your fill,  take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  The Lord your God you shall fear, him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear.  Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you,  because the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a jealous God. The anger of the Lord your God would be kindled against you and he would destroy you from the face of the earth.

 “Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.  Deuteronomy 6:10-16

“Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.”  This is a clear reference to Exodus 17:7. And later, while Jesus is tested in the wilderness, He responds to Satan referring to the time the people of the Exodus tested God at Massah, quoting Deuteronomy 6:16 saying, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matthew 4:7).

“Is the Lord among us or not?”  God knows testing is at the heart of the question, and that is extremely offensive to God.  Rather than looking upon the folks of the Exodus through our first world lens of superiority, we should realize we are at great risk of testing God in our own ways and behaving the way God warned against.  We live in the place God warns about in Deuteronomy 6 & 8.  We live in a land of fine cities we did not build, with water on tap and food readily available.  And as we live in this land of abundance, in relative luxury, we are tempted to forget God and tempted to attribute our comfortable lifestyles to ourselves and our doing, not God, and at risk of worshiping a variety of different idols including ourselves, and then in our time of need and suffering and pain we cry out, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

As I consider pain, suffering and desperate need in the context of the Exodus, I think about Moses.  He was truly a man of God, a pillar of faith, yet consider how he spent the final forty years of his life.  He never entered the Promised Land (see Numbers 20:12).  He did not cross the Jordan River into the land of milk and honey.  For the final forty years of his life, he wandered through the wilderness, trusting that God would continue providing water and food for everyone throughout the journey.  He served God as His representative on earth, and as such, God led him through the dry, rocky desolate wilderness, day after day, for forty years.

What causes you to ask whether God is with you?  We each carry burdens.  We each suffer in our own unique way, and God allows this to draw us to Him.  He allows this so we will rely on Him rather than ourselves (see 2 Corinthians 1:9). Please know that God is with us.  He is with you.

And as you engage with others out in the world, please know that they too are suffering.  They too carry burdens, experience pain, know suffering.  They too are wondering whether God is with them.  Please do what you can to show them kindness, grace, mercy, compassion.  Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit so you might shine His light, love and life out in the dark world around you. 

May you hunger and thirst for righteousness, may you long for His holy word, may you seek Him with all you have and all you are.  Amen.