Exodus 17:1-7

Exodus 17:1-7

[1] 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.  [2] 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?  [3] 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?  [4] And Moses  cried  unto the LORD,  saying,  What shall I do  unto this people?  they be almost  ready to stone  [5] 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.  [6] 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.  [7] 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?

What does Exodus 17:1-7 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Again the Israelites complained because there was no water to drink when they camped at Rephidim (cf. Exodus 15:24). At Marah there was bad water, but now there was none.
". . . the supreme calamity of desert travellers [1] befell them-complete lack of water." [2]
Rephidim was near the wilderness of Sinai ( Exodus 17:1; cf. Exodus 19:2; Numbers 33:15) and the Horeb (Sinai) range of mountains ( Exodus 17:6).
The Israelites" grumbling demonstrated lack of faith, since God had promised to supply their needs ( Exodus 17:2). They wanted Him to act as they dictated rather than waiting for Him to provide as He had promised. This was how they tested or challenged the Lord (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:10). It was proper for God to test them ( Exodus 15:25; Exodus 16:4), but it was improper for them to test Him in the sense of trying His patience.
"One of Moses" most characteristic and praiseworthy traits was that he took his difficulties to the Lord ( Exodus 17:4; Exodus 15:25; Exodus 32:30; Exodus 33:8; Numbers 11:2; Numbers 11:11; Numbers 12:13; Numbers 14:13-19 et al.)." [3]
By using his staff ( Exodus 17:5) Moses proved that God was still enabling him to perform miracles as he had done in Egypt. He still had divine regal authority, and the power of God was still with him. The elders apparently accompanied Moses as representatives of the people since the whole nation could not get close enough to witness the miracle.
Horeb may refer to the mountain range at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula ( Exodus 17:6; cf. Deuteronomy 1:2; 1 Kings 19:8) also called Sinai. This is the traditional site, but I question it (cf. Deuteronomy 33:2; Galatians 4:25). Wherever the Horeb range may have been, Moses struck the rock somewhere near these mountains. [4]
"Massah" means "testing" or "proof," and "Meribah" means "murmuring," "dissatisfaction," or "contention" ( Exodus 17:7). Except for Joshua 9:18 and Psalm 59:15, all the other references to grumbling in the Old Testament occur in six chapters of the Pentateuch: Exodus 15 , 16 , 17 , and Numbers 14 , 16 , , 17. [5] The first name commemorated the Israelites" testing of God and the second name their quarreling with Moses. They failed to believe that the Lord was among them as He had promised He would be.
"In our own time the same demand is made, the same challenge repeated. Men are not satisfied with the moral evidences of the Being and providence of God, they point to the physical evils around, the hunger and thirst, the poverty and misery, the pollution and self-will of our times, crying-If there be a God, why does He permit these things? Why does He allow suffering and sorrow? Why does He not interpose? And then, when the heavens are still silent, they infer that there is no God, that the sky is an empty eye-socket, and that there is nothing better than to eat and drink, because death is an eternal sleep." [6]
God had assured the Israelites in Egypt that He would bring them into the Promised Land ( Exodus 3:8; Exodus 3:17; Exodus 13:5; Exodus 13:11). Consequently all their grumbling demonstrated a lack of faith. This second instance of complaining about lack of water was more serious than the first because God had provided good water for them earlier in the desert ( Exodus 15:25).