“Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?” And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” And the LORD said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Exodus 17:1-6
Once again the children of Israel are moving toward the Promised Land and come to a land where there is no water. But this time it is interesting how they respond. Instead of bringing to remembrance God’s provision of water at Marah and Elim they once again revert back to their captive’s mindset and complain against Moses. This time they don’t just complain though, they make a demand; “Give us water that we may drink.” This is another picture of an immature people who act more like children than adults. They have seen God provide water and now instead of praising Him for past provision and making a request of Him through Moses, they command that water is provided for them right now!
And This time Moses responds differently too. You can sense his frustration when you read his response, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?” I imagine his frustration is like that of a parent whose children freak out when they don’t have something and come to them making demands that they get it for them right now! It then says that the people thirsted there for water. I find it interesting that the other two times Moses went directly to God and made a request of Him but this time we can tell that jumping into action wasn’t Moses first response. Then in the next verse it says, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
This is another picture of immaturity because isn’t it just like immature children to exaggerate a story in order to get your attention? Now they are accusing Moses and God for trying to kill them, their children, and their livestock with thirst. I love Moses’ response because it is so real and such a vivid picture of how we react sometimes when we are frustrated. Instead of asking God to provide he says, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” If it would have been me saying it I would have said, “These people are cotton picking immature and I can’t handle it! They are so ridiculous to deal with!” But no matter how frustrated and angry Moses was when he spoke to God I absolutely love what happens next because it is another beautiful image of God’s love and grace for His people. God doesn’t have a knee jerk reaction to Moses’ frustration. No He responds to the need of His people and once again gives Moses a command that will produce the provision that they need.
God knows this people and He loves them so much that He continues to provide for them over and over again; no matter how they accuse Him or how hard they speak against Him. He knows their captive’s mindset and He deals gently with them as a loving father deals with an infant. But their reactions to Moses and God are revealing more and more of their need for guidance and direction and their incapability of living in freedom and trusting in God wholeheartedly as their provider and protector. No matter how much they may have wanted to be free they are still held captive to the bondage of a slave’s mentality.
This is a perfect image of what happens to a Christian today who comes to the revelation understanding of salvation and grace through Jesus Christ alone but does not know how to handle their newly given freedom from slavery to a sin consciousness and religious teachings. They want so badly to trust God wholeheartedly as their provider and protector but they just can’t seem to do it. They are quite immature and reactionary in their flesh which causes them to continually try to serve God in their own strength and gain His approval through their own self righteous efforts. As you will see over the next few days how God gave the laws and commandments as a loving guide for this free people who are still controlled by a captive’s mentality; you will also see how He has given the people under the New Covenant the Holy Spirit as their guide instead of a set of rules and regulations to live by.
We are no longer required to keep the laws but we are responsible for submitting ourselves to the guidance and counsel of the Holy Spirit. We are responsible for accepting the truth of Christ’s sacrifice for all sin and for putting our full reliance for our salvation on the finished work of the Cross, not our own self righteous acts of obedience. We can’t earn salvation! We can’t move God to love us more or less based on our actions either! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17) God is telling us today to believe it, live it, and proclaim it! He is saying that we need to stop trying to identify ourselves with the people under the Old Covenant and we need to stop living in a captives mindset to slavery to a sin consciousness and start living in the freedom of a righteousness consciousness through believing in the finished work of the Cross! This is what I want us to meditate on as we go even deeper into our study of why the laws were given to man and why we are no longer required to keep them as a way of salvation or righteousness.
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