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Exodus 17:1<\/b>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>\u00a0All 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. \u00a0Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, \u201cGive us water to drink.\u201d And Moses said to them, \u201cWhy do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?\u201d \u00a0But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, \u201cWhy did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?\u201d \u00a0So Moses cried to the LORD, \u201cWhat shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.\u201d \u00a0And the LORD said to Moses, \u201cPass 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.\u00a0Behold, 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.\u201d And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.\u00a0And 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, \u201cIs the LORD among us or not?\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0Israel did exactly what God commanded, following the pillar of cloud and fire; yet there was no water to drink. They were in the will of God but in a difficult time. It is possible to be completely in the will of God yet also in a season of great problems. The people of Israel had a real problem \u2013 there was no water for the people to drink. This was not an imaginary problem and the people were right to be concerned. Yet when the people then contended with Moses, they did not respond with spiritual thinking or actions. When we have a problem it is much easier to blame someone than to think through the problem carefully and spiritually. In this situation Israel could have thought, \u201cWe are in a desert; it\u2019s not surprising there isn\u2019t much water here. We need to look to God to meet this need.\u201d Instead they blamed Moses and did nothing to help the problem. One of the great themes of this journey from Egypt to Canaan was that God was with them. He was with them each step of the way, and here again He would show His presence to Moses and to Israel.<\/p>\n \u00a0God remembered the way Israel tested Him at Massah and Meribah, recalling it in several passages.<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0Deuteronomy 6:16<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah.<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0Deuteronomy 9:22<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0at\u2026 Massah\u2026 you provoked the LORD to wrath.<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0Deuteronomy 33:8<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0Your holy one, Whom You tested at Massah, and with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah.<\/p>\n (Guzik)<\/p>\n This attitude among the Israelites was their great sin. In this time of difficulty, the children of Israel \u2013 directly or indirectly \u2013 doubted the loving presence and care of God among them. \u201cUnder the stress of an immediate lack, these people doubted the one fact of which they had overwhelming evidence.\u201d (Morgan)<\/p>\n The heart, mind, and soul in every person are the place where intentional decisions are made to either honor and glorify God by faith or to dishonor, reject, and grumble against Him by denying that He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present. We trust God for salvation, redemption, and forgiveness through Jesus Christ but so easily deny any power God has over the trials and troubles we face. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Oh, that our faith would be our shield and place of refuge, peace, and rest. A place where our trust and reliance in the Power of God overcomes that which is a burden upon and around us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We have been given God\u2019s Word which records His power, might, wisdom, knowledge, and ever-present presence. It is by these confirming acts of love for those who trust, follow, obey, and rely upon Him that faith has roots in our souls, or at least it should. Though it might appear to us that we are in the wilderness for a long time, that which seems like a curse can be truly reliant and faith-walk with God through it.\u00a0 <\/span>Though we may be tempted to grumble, cast those thoughts from your mind the minute you recognize these seeds of doubt appears. Continually rejoice in Jesus Christ, trusting in Him, and faithfully think, say, and do that which honors and glorifies Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Exodus 17:1\u00a0\u00a0All 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. \u00a0Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, \u201cGive us water to drink.\u201d And … Continue reading “42.o. “Wilderness” – 3. Water from the Rock”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5647,1059,6913,16510,16513,4936,796,8211,8212,219,3542,16511,16512,701],"class_list":["post-163528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers","tag-commandment","tag-egypt","tag-elders","tag-give-us-water","tag-is-the-lord-among-us-or-not","tag-israel","tag-lord","tag-massah","tag-meribah","tag-moses","tag-quarrel","tag-test-the-lord","tag-the-people-grumbled","tag-wilderness"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163528"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163720,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163528\/revisions\/163720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}