At Rephidim there is no water, and the people go past complaining to threats — Moses says they are almost ready to stone him. God tells him to strike a rock, and a stream pours out for the whole camp. Moses names the place for the question the nation kept asking: is the LORD among us, or not? Then Amalek attacks the stragglers, and Israel wins the battle only as long as Moses’ hands are held up — which, by sundown, takes three men to do.
A study in Exodus 17 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 8 min read
Wherefore Do Ye Tempt The LORD
“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?”
Exodus 17:2
Same wilderness, same thirst, same reflex as at Marah — except now they have also seen the manna. To “tempt” God, in the old sense, is to demand He prove Himself again, as though the Red Sea and the daily bread had settled nothing. Every fresh difficulty is treated as the first one.
They Be Almost Ready To Stone Me
“And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.”
Exodus 17:4
The complaint has curdled into a mob. And Moses, again, does the one right thing — he takes it to God instead of matching the anger. It is the pattern that keeps him from breaking: the people cry against Moses, and Moses cries to the LORD.
Thou Shalt Smite The Rock
“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.”
Exodus 17:6
God says I will stand before thee… upon the rock — the blow that opens the rock is, in a sense, aimed at Him. The rod that brought plagues on Egypt is now used to bring life to Israel. Paul says the meaning outright: “they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). The Rock is struck once so the water can flow.
“Moses smote the rock, but it was the Son of God who, veiled in the cloudy pillar, stood beside Moses, and caused the life-giving water to flow.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 298
Is The LORD Among Us, Or Not
“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?”
Exodus 17:7
The names mean “testing” and “quarrelling,” and they become shorthand for a whole generation’s unbelief — Psalm 95 warns, “harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness,” and Hebrews 3-4 makes it the warning for the church. The question “is the LORD among us?” is asked while standing next to a rock that is gushing water at His command.
“The unbelief thus manifested was criminal, and Moses feared that the judgments of God would rest upon them.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 298
When Moses Held Up His Hand
“And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands were heavy… 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.”
Exodus 17:11-12
Joshua — named here for the first time — fights in the valley; Moses intercedes on the hill. Both are needed. The battle is not won by the sword alone or the prayer alone, but by the two together, and when the one man’s arms give out, it takes two more to hold them up. Leaders need holding up; and prayer is work.
“As the Hebrews triumphed when Moses was reaching his hands toward heaven and interceding in their behalf, so the Israel of God prevail when they by faith take hold upon the strength of their mighty Helper. Yet divine strength is to be combined with human effort.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 299
Jehovah-nissi
“And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: for he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
Exodus 17:15-16
Jehovah-nissi means “the LORD is my banner” — the standard an army rallies to. Amalek struck the weak and the weary at the back of the column “and he feared not God” (Deuteronomy 25:18), and God takes it personally: “the hand of Amalek is against the throne of the LORD.” The camp that spent the day asking whether God was even with them ends it building an altar to Him as their war banner.
