Discovery: I had the privilege of guest speaking this morning at Tri-Valley Bible Church in Pleasanton this morning. This was a follow up sermon from Exodus 16 that I spoke on previously when I was there. The two long standing issues of spiritual amnesia and a spirit of entitlement are dealt with once again in this section. Israel has already forgotten about God's provision of water as seen in Exodus 15 as well as the provision of food in Exodus 16. Their spiritual amnesia is demonstrated by their attitude of "What have you done for me lately?" Worse yet, the Israelites accuse God and Moses of wanting to kill them, their children, and their livestock (v. 3) out here in the desert through thirst. The danger of this spirit of entitlement is not just that it is selfish, immature, and silly but that it removes God from His rightful place and puts us on the throne of our lives. Rather than serving God, the expectation is that He should serve us.
Application: The real issue for the people of Israel during this wilderness wandering has to do with the condition of their hearts. They simply cannot and will not trust God. Their focus is on what is seen rather than what is unseen and they hold onto their past experiences rather than trusting God as they move forward in faith. And yet, the main point of this passage is that God is using the wilderness to refine and refocus their faith. The Exodus is not just about rescuing Israel from Egypt but it is also about removing Egypt from Israel's heart.
Clement of Rome says this about the spiritual purpose of the wilderness: "After this [Red Sea crossing], Moses, by the command of God, whose providence is over all, led out the people of the Hebrews into the wilderness; and, leaving the shortest road which leads from Egypt to Judea, he led the people through long windings of the wilderness, that, by the discipline of forty years, the novelty of a changed manner of life might root out the evils which clung to them by a long continued familiarity with the customs of the Egyptians."
The Apostle Paul states it as such in Ephesians 4:22-24: "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Ultimately God reveals Himself to His people as He always does. Rather than wrath and punishment for their doubt, sin, and accusations, God provides for them the water that they desire. We see God's character here in our passage: His mercy (withholding wrath) and His grace (provision of water through the rock). The Apostle Paul would comment on this passage later in 1 Corinthians 10:1-3: "For I do not want you to ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." We see the mercy and grace of God in the provision of water through this rock in Exodus 17. Paul reminds us that Jesus is that rock which demonstrates God's mercy and grace.
Prayer: Lord, help me avoid the pitfalls of my former ways and remind me of my new identity and calling in You. Thank you for Your mercies that are new every morning and a grace that words cannot express.