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. 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?” 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?” So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 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. 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. 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?”
Comment: In the title I put legitimate in inverted commas. Why? Because not having water is a serious problem, but the way they faced their problem was wrong, They were still grumbling. They still have not grasped that this is not Moses travel plans, God is the One who has both delivered them from slavery and is taking them to a homeland which will be theirs! Politeness is a virtue – as Proverbs tells us a gentle reply kills an angry attitude! Moses does the right thing – he takes the problem to God. We all should learn to take it to the Lord in prayer more frequently. Pray constantly (maybe frequently in words, but always in attitude!) God’s answer is dramatic. ‘Lead the people, Moses, to a certain rock and strike it with a staff.’ Was the rock a blockage to a big spring, and the strike released the water? Many will ask how that worked, and I think that seeking to understand is good, provided that in the end we acknowledge that regardless the story is true and that God was the Provider. As someone has said ‘you should not put your brain aside when you read the Bible or leave it at the door when you go into church!’
Prayer: Thank you that You don’t mind me having an enquiring mind but please deliver me from thinking that I know better than You do,
As I read it! 