seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 17:5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah[a] and Meribah(b) because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
a. Exodus 17:7 Massah means testing.
b. Exodus 17:7 Meribah means quarreling
Moses was in a pickle. The Israelites had been following him while he followed a cloud and a pillar of fire around the desert in circles. Now the Israelites were not hungry, because they had their flocks as well as the quail and manna provided by God. They were probably rationing their water because they had their families and flocks to consider. Water rations were probably dwindling. The Israelites were beginning to question Moses's leadership. He was, after all, following a cloud and a pillar of fire around the desert in what seems to be circles. They wanted to stone him.
Now the elders were called in to witness this next miracle. That makes sense because there were over 2 million people grumbling. By bringing in the elders, it would expedite the word. People would find out what God did quicker. The elders were there to make sure the people knew it was God through Moses that produced the water for them.
Here's what Bible.org has to say about it.
God’s answer was that Moses should walk on ahead of the people. Among other things this indicated that Moses was making no retreat. It also reminded the congregation of Israelites that Moses was their leader, because when water was provided from the rock the people had to follow Moses to get to it. Some of the elders were taken along by Moses to witness, it would seem, this new miracle. (Did Israel’s hardness of heart prevent them from this privilege?) As commanded, Moses took along his staff—the same one with which he had struck the Nile. The Lord promised Moses that He would be standing before Him at the rock at Horeb. Moses was to strike the rock, causing water to flow from it. When Moses did this, water came forth in abundance, providing for the needs of the Israelites. He named the place Massah (test) and Meribah (quarrel), an epitaph which the Israelites would gladly have stricken from their history.
There are many scholars who would attempt to interpret this miraculous provision of water as a merely natural phenomenon. For example, there are those who suggest that there was a vein of water near the surface of the rock and that Moses just happened to hit this rock in the right place, so as to “uncap” the supply. This sounds more like the television description of how Jeb Clampett (of the Beverly Hillbillies) accidentally discovered oil on his place—a shot fired from his rifle accidentally released oil hidden underground.
There are many scholars who would attempt to interpret this miraculous provision of water as a merely natural phenomenon. For example, there are those who suggest that there was a vein of water near the surface of the rock and that Moses just happened to hit this rock in the right place, so as to “uncap” the supply. This sounds more like the television description of how Jeb Clampett (of the Beverly Hillbillies) accidentally discovered oil on his place—a shot fired from his rifle accidentally released oil hidden underground.
Here are a couple of comments from the Working Preacher site.
It strikes me (pun intended!) that God chooses to bring water -- and the life it symbolizes and will impart -- out of something that appears to be lifeless. This may be symbolic of God's intentions to bring the people life, not death, as they suspect. Out of Egypt and out of the wilderness, God will find ways to make life flow in unexpected ways. But it will require a certain amount of trust from the people, a willingness to put faith in a god who seems not to do things in the typical way.
God seems almost (dare I say?) to forget about the people's needs but responds with creativity when the people loudly protest. The people keep pushing the question: "Are you another god like Pharaoh?" It may be that the people work to shape God's character just as God works to shape that of the people. The mutual testing in the wilderness yields a people with a uniquely articulated faith, along with a unique, fundamentally counter-cultural god, both of whom have inspired countless generations of people to follow them.
God seems almost (dare I say?) to forget about the people's needs but responds with creativity when the people loudly protest. The people keep pushing the question: "Are you another god like Pharaoh?" It may be that the people work to shape God's character just as God works to shape that of the people. The mutual testing in the wilderness yields a people with a uniquely articulated faith, along with a unique, fundamentally counter-cultural god, both of whom have inspired countless generations of people to follow them.
