 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. 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.” 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. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Israel Defeats Amalek8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, “A hand upon the throne[c] of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” Meditation There is distinction between groaning and grumbling. “Groaning is our heart lamenting over how sin and sins consequences have affected our lives, yet trusting God and His promises. Grumbling is complaining to God about how we think things should be and blaming Him for problems and pain.” Christians must be grounded in grace to cultivate gratitude, transforming grumbling into groaning. Israel grumbled against Moses (3), testing the Lord (2) and questioning whether or not the Lord was with them (7). God commanded Moses to test His faithfulness, striking a rock with the rod of God. God proved His love by providing water from the rock and then protecting Israel from their enemies (8-16). God’s grace invites His people to something greater than grumbling. 1 Corinthians 10:4 reveals Christ as the Rock, providing water to refresh weary souls. Jesus was tempted to grumble in the wilderness but would not put the Father to the test (Matthew 4:7). Jesus offers the water of His grace to those of us who reveal our hard hearts through grumbling (Hebrews 3:15). Groaning is not grumbling. Groaning is a form of lament in a fallen world, hearts of believers looking to the Lord alone for redemption and renewal (Romans 8:22-23). Groaning trusts the Lord to redeem all He allows. Jesus died proclaiming, “I thirst!” so that all who are weary and long for water in the wilderness can find grace for our grumbling and a new beginning in groaning, looking to Jesus alone for restoration and renewal. The grumbling generation did not make it to the promise land. Believers will in Christ, receiving grace enough to turn from our grumbling as we walk our pilgrim journey to glory. Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially God’s grace for His grumbling people? -Where do you identify with Israel, grumbling against God because of difficult circumstances rather than groaning to God to redeem what He allows? -How does the work of Jesus free you to repent from grumbling and lament in groaning, looking to Him alone for redemption and renewal? Key Verse 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?”
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