Exodus Chapter 17

• Exodus 17:1 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. 

Here we have another incidence of murmuring and complaining. They were thirsty and scared. They were quick to forget the miracles that happened at the Red Sea, the Manna from heaven and the time the Lord made the bitter waters, sweet. Here again we have a time of unbelief coming back among the people. We see also that we are the same. When things start to go wrong, how quick are to give up and assume God has forgotten us. When Jesus said that He will never leave or forsake those that follow Him, He meant just that. 

Becoming dead to the world and alive unto God is a goal to really seek. Taking up our cross to follow Jesus through thick and thin will guarantee a life of fruitfulness. Being faithful will bring reward. It is something we will never regret.

The world is not worthy of those that forsake all to follow the Lord. If we love the Lord and live for Him, the world will hate us at times. Sometimes God will send people who will favor us but many times we who love righteousness are hated by the world. The only way to overcome and choose God over pleasing men (or women) is to get to the place where God's will matters to us more than anything else on earth. 

In the past many churches made the mistake of emphasizing a legalistic Christian religion instead of a being born again by the spirit and getting people to build upon the foundation of Jesus to the point where they serve Him because of love. It is a human trait to forsake simple faith in Christ for salvation and try to go back to earning our salvation by our own merits. We can't ever be good enough to earn salvation apart from faith in Jesus.

If we get to the place where nothing matters to us as much as Jesus, where the world is boring compared to Jesus, we wouldn't have to worry about what is right or wrong because the "want to" do evil would not be within us. 

The reason many Christians have trouble with sin is because, they have not sold out to Jesus Christ. They have forgotten that He died for their sins. Our strength comes from our faith and also our ability to remember that Jesus washed away are sins and we are no longer in bondage.

Those weak in faith and that easily succumb to temptation have forgotten that they can only overcome by the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. We can't live holy in our own strength or our own will power. We must rest in His grace, trust in His sustaining power and be confident in His love for us. We must remember that He loves us so much that He (Jesus) stayed on the cross until He could say, IT IS FINISHED.

God doesn't want us to fail, be miserable and not be fruitful. He wants us to be saved and walk with Him daily even more than we want it for ourselves. I believe the angels in heaven not only rejoice when one person finds the Lord but are cheering every time we make a decision to keep on following the Lord in all things.  

• Exodus 17:2 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?

Complaining does sometimes cause the Lord to bring judgment. Faith and trust in Him makes Him happy with us. He still loves us when we fail but how happy we make Him when He sees our trust and faith. I can't see the Lord ever letting down someone who truly believes in Him with all their heart. 

• Exodus 17:3 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?

If they would have only said, "We are thirsty, can you ask God to help us?" it would have been much better than accusing God of leading them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness. Later in the book of Exodus we do find that the first generation except for Joshua and Caleb ended up dying in the wilderness because of unbelief. So accusing God of bringing them out of Egypt just to allow them to die came to pass but only because they chose to believe the 10 spies that brought an evil report rather than Joshua and Caleb who believed God was able to deliver.

We go through these doubts also. God may call us into a ministry and it goes great for a while with souls being saved and then boom, trouble comes. It could be church troubles, fighting, money problems, setbacks, dry services, church splits, rebellion, false doctrine or persecution. We may be tempted to wonder whether we are in the will of God or whether God has even called us into the ministry. Many are tempted to quit under pressure.

• Exodus 17:4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 
• 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? 

Here again, God has mercy and gives them water to drink. All of us have trouble waiting on God. 

• Exodus 17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 

Perhaps their murmuring led to this unexpected trouble but it caused God to send a curse upon Amalek for coming against Israel. 

We must not oppose anyone that is the apple of God's eye and in His service even if they make mistakes and it seems like God has forsaken them. God does not take back His gifts and promises. 

• Exodus 17:9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 
• 10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 
• 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 

 We see here that when Moses held up his hand Israel started to win the battle. When Moses let down his hand, Amalek began to win.

• Exodus 17:12 But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Even though Moses was God's anointed, we see that he was only human and needed help. There was someone there to hold up the hands of Moses so the battle could be finished. God could have just sent in angels but we learn something profound here. God sends faithful people to hold up the hands of those in a leadership position. All successful ministries need faithful workers to do the work of the Lord.

At the beginning we see the people complaining and fussing, blaming God because they were thirsty and tired. This will hinder any work of God. A good ministry of any kind needs those that work in unity of spirit and not be quick to start blaming and fussing when things go wrong. Pray instead. Have regular prayer meetings with those of the same mind and one accord. Trust God for direction. Work together and redirect attention back to the one that called us into service. We call that going back to the drawing board and finding out where we went wrong.

• Exodus 17:13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
• 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
• 15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: Meaning, "My banner".
• 16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. 

We see from the above passages that although God chose Moses as the leader and but he was still a man, a human. I see from this passage that Moses had to have help. When Moses Amelek was cursed from that time forward. - DC

Exodus 18

Exodus Index