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.
Exodus 17:5-6
Summary
As we look back on our text from yesterday, we notice how God provided an unlikely solution to the Israelite's thirst, bringing water out of a rock.
Here, we see God will not only offer what you need not to be thirsty, but He may be creative with the solution. God, the creator of the universe, can satisfy your needs in more ways than you could ever imagine.
Take a moment and ask yourself: has discouragement limited your awe and wonder when it comes to God?
God can't use me because of my ________. My mental health. My past. My location. My trial. Fill in the blank for what might apply to you.
When it comes to our neediness, nothing is too hard for God. Had the Israelites reflected on where they had been and how God had provided, they might have remembered who they were with far outweighed what they wished they had.
Matthew 28:19-20 says: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
When God commissions His people, He promises His presence. We see this with Jacob in Genesis 28, Moses in Exodus 3, Joshua in Joshua 1, and our lives. He commissions, and He cares.
There is a confidence that comes with trusting that God is with us. This kind of confidence produces the power needed not just for effective ministry but also for durable ministry. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, we need the strength to go where God has called us and to last there.
He is with you, always, to the end of the age.
What's Next?
God commissions, and He cares. Write down where you feel like God has commissioned you, and think of how He has cared for you in that place. Spend some time today thanking God for His care of you.
Scripture References
7.So, as the Holy Spirit says:“Today, if you hear his voice,8.do not harden your heartsas you did in the rebellion,during the time of testing in the wilderness,9.where your ancestors tested and tried me,though for forty years they saw what I did.10.That is why I was angry with that generation;I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,and they have not known my ways.’11.So I declared on oath in my anger,‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”3:11 Psalm 95:7-1112.See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13.But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14.We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.
7.for he is our Godand we are the people of his pasture,the flock under his care.Today, if only you would hear his voice,8.“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,95:8 Meribah means quarreling.as you did that day at Massah95:8 Massah means testing. in the wilderness,
1.The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2.So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”3.But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”4.Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”5.The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6.I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7.And he called the place Massah17:7 Massah means testing. and Meribah17:7 Meribah means quarreling. because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
13.Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14.but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
19.Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20.and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
11.These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.
13.But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14.We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15.As has just been said:“Today, if you hear his voice,do not harden your heartsas you did in the rebellion.”3:15 Psalm 95:7,816.Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17.And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18.And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19.So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
16.For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
7.Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1.The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2.So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”3.But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
About the Contributor
Jackie Hill Perry is an author, bible teacher, poet, and hip-hop artist. Since becoming a Christian, she has been compelled to use her speaking and teaching gifts to share the light of the gospel of God as authentically as she can. She is the author of Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been and Holier Than Thou. At home, she is a wife to Preston and Mommy to Eden, Autumn, Sage, and August. View more from the Contributor.
