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The Mercy of Exhortation

Jackie Hill Perry

6 Days

The Trouble with Thirst

Day 2

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For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness

Psalm 95:7-8

Yesterday, we learned that encouragement keeps us, protects us, and is a means by which God pursues us. Hebrews 3 reminded us not to let our discouragement deceive us and cause us to fall into unbelief.

When we turn back to Hebrews 3: 7-11, we see that the writer of Hebrews also quotes Psalm 95 and includes an added turn of phrase:

do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness...

Psalm 95:8

With this added context, we see that the writer of Hebrews is pointing to the Psalm, and the Psalm is pointing us back to an Old Testament story found in Exodus 17. That is where our time together today begins.

Summary

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?

Exodus 17:1-7

The Israelites are in the wilderness, arriving at a place devoid of water. While their thirst was a natural inclination, their response was personal. Notice how the text points out that "the people quarreled with Moses" and "they tested the Lord by saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?" A momentary affliction revealed what they really thought about God.

Temporary discomfort. Eternal implications.

Let's reimagine the plight of Exodus 17 if the Israelites turned their temporary discomfort back to God.

The Israelites arrive in the wilderness after a long journey. A quick look determines there are no lakes, springs, or wells—nevertheless, they are thirsty. Noticing their thirst, they start to recall how it wasn't that long ago that they were thirsty in another wilderness. There, the water they came across was bitter, yet God made it sweet. They could also recall how God parted the Red Sea so they could walk on dry land or remember how the first plague that God leveraged on their behalf in Egypt involved Him turning every source of water into blood.

If the Israelites meditated long enough on the truth, they would have the confidence to believe that if God can curse water, sweeten water, and split water, then he can obviously create water. If they exhorted themselves and one another about the possibility of God's power, they would have had the confidence they needed to trust Him.

So we ask: are you thirsty?

We all thirst for something. Relationships, power, sex, money, gifts, glory — the trouble with thirst isn't exclusive to literal water or the story of the Israelites in the wilderness. What is your water? And where have you been getting it? Do you believe that God can quench your thirst?

The truth is that water from any source other than God will always leave us thirsty. Scripture demonstrates a thread of God's creative provision to satisfy our needs. The psalmist and the writer of Hebrews call us to remember that He is the ultimate source, and we can bank on His supply.

What's Next?

Read John 4:13-14. Jesus promises the woman in Samaria that whoever drinks of His water will never thirst again.

Do you believe that God can quench your thirst? Your need does not intimate him, and He is faithful to supply.

Scripture References

7So, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you hear his voice,

8do not harden your hearts

as you did in the rebellion,

during the time of testing in the wilderness,

9where your ancestors tested and tried me,

though for forty years they saw what I did.

10That is why I was angry with that generation;

I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,

and they have not known my ways.’

11So I declared on oath in my anger,

‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

12See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

14We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

7for he is our God

and 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,

as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,

1The 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.

2So 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?”

3But 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?”

4Then Moses cried out to the

Lord

, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

5The

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.

6I 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.

7And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the

Lord

saying, “Is the

Lord

among us or not?”

13Jesus answered,

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,

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.”

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,

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.

13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

14We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

15As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts

as you did in the rebellion.”

16Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?

17And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness?

18And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?

19So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

16For 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.

7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

1The 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.

2So 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?”

3But 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?”

Jackie Hill Perry

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.