Exo 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.
The children of Israel were following the directions of the LORD and were at Rephidim, a place of rest, still there was no water. Even when we are in God's will we may suffer needs. We are to take our needs to the LORD.
Exo 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?
Exo 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?
Murmuring and complaining to Moses and to the LORD. Sometimes we tend to look at the dark side of our problems instead of trusting the LORD for our needs.
Exo 17:4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
Exo 17:5 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.
As their leader he was to go before them with the elders in unity and take the rod that smote the river. I was thinking how they crossed the red sea, but what river is he talking about? It must be the Nile river that the rod struck and it turned to blood, showing the power and judgement of the LORD. He was to get blood from the rock? Symbolically perhaps, for the Rock stood for Jesus who would be strickened for our sins.
Isa 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
Exo 17:6 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.
Psa 105:41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.
Joh 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
1Co 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. Jesus is the life giving Rock.
Jesus gives us the water of life, his word and the Holy Spirit and his blood flowed out to be an atonement for our sins. This was pictured at the cross.
Joh 19:33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
Joh 19:34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
Exo 17:7 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?
Massah means temptation, they tempted the LORD
Deu 6:16 "You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.
We sometimes think that the LORD is testing us. But, the Bible says we are not tested of God. Tempt and test are from the same word.
Jas 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Still I think God may test us to prove us as he did with Job. Our faithfulness and trust in the LORD in all circumstances is our testing.
Meribah: Strife or contention. They murmured and complained to Moses.
The flesh nature is an enemy to the Spiritual walk with God. There is also the devil who may use people, as wolves to pick off the sheep away from the flock and to kill them. The tribe of Amalek were as a pack of wolves.
Exo 17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
One problem was solved and then came the Amalekites. They were descendants of Esau, the brother of Israel that sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.
Amalek is a type of the flesh nature or even worse of a wolf who attacks God's people.. They took advantage of the weaker stragglers.
Deu 25:17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;
Deu 25:18 How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
Exo 17:9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
Moses was to choose strong men to fight against these wolves. In our Christian chat rooms we have strong people in the word and spirit of God to protect the weak from wolves who come in to deceive and to take away the weak and stragglers. These wolves in sheep's clothing are the false teachers and false prophets.
1Jn 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
Moses would stand up high on a hill with his rod. The rod was symbolic of the presence and power of God. Some say it is symbolic for the word of God. We are to stand fast upon the word of God and not give in to the flesh.
Exo 17:10 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.
Exo 17:11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
Exo 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.
Aaron and Hur helped Moses by sitting him on the rock and holding his arms up. Our spiritual friends are to keep us on the rock that is God and to hold us up in prayer.
Mat 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Exo 17:13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Exo 17:14 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.
Exo 17:15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:
The LORD is my banner.
Exo 17:16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
Saul was told to destroy Amalek, but he disobeyed God.
1Sa 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
1Sa 15:24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
1Sa 15:25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.
1Sa 15:26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
If we reject the word of the LORD we become enemies of God as were the Amalekites. Trust the LORD, do his will and stay in prayer. This is what the LORD requires of those who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb. Walk in the Spirit and you will not obey the flesh and be taken captive by a wolf.
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