Good morning and welcome to the 5MC. Our journey continues on in Exodus as we walk along through the desert with the entire Israelite nation. God through the ten plagues has forced Pharaoh to release them and now free, they are on a march towards the promised land of Canaan. But the people have grumbling hearts and grumbling spirits and God must first deal with their hearts before He will allow them into the promised land. We look at many different factors as we judge and measure people but God only looks at one thing…our hearts. “But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Sam 16:7
This morning we’ll see that the Israelites are yet again out of water and because of the dire, life threatening thirst, begin complaining to Moses. We can be quick to judge these people as grumpy Guses but make this personal before you judge. If you were watching yourself, your family and your animals slowly die of thirst, you would be a little upset and grumpy as well. But this brings up a good point and one I would like to expound upon a little to help us better understand the scale of what Moses and the people were needing in the form of daily provision.
Think about this, today when you are thirsty what do you do? You walk to the fridge and grab some cold tasty, clean water right? And where do you get that? Well, you just go over to the faucet and simply turn it on. Tadaaa! Water. Not so much in the middle of the desert 3500 years ago. Only a natural spring can provide water in the middle of the desert and to get that water, well, you have to walk. Walk a group of 2 million people that is. Men, women, children, cows, donkeys, goats and sheep. This must have been a painfully slow process to see this huge caravan move at a snail’s pace over the rocky terrain of the unforgiving desert. This would not have been a good time to be very old or very young, walking mile after mile in the beating sun.
Let’s talk about water. Water is your body's principal chemical component and makes up about 60 percent of your body weight. Your body depends on water to survive. Every cell, tissue and organ in your body needs water to work properly. According to the Mayo Clinic the average adult in a moderate climate needs .97 gallons of water per day, basically 1 gallon. You can also get water from high water content foods you eat that will supplement your daily water intake. But remember that this estimate is for a moderate climate and moderate exercise. The Israelites were in a hot desert and constantly walking so they would need much more water, let’s say closer to 1.5 gallons per adult per day. Then we must consider the water needs of the livestock they had with them. For ease of computation let’s consider the same water needs for them. If we figure that out of the approximate 2 million people, 1.2 million are adults and the rest children, and about 250,000 head of livestock, we can extrapolate a rough water need of 2.175 million gallons of water per day. Folks, you’re not going to line up at a water fountain for that. Keeping this many people watered is a huge daily need.
As far as food, God has by now started providing manna in the mornings and quail at night. (Ex. 14) God alone is providing daily food for His people, this is good on numerous levels. First, they don’t have to worry about food. They are learning to trust in the Lord exclusively for their daily bread. Second, they don’t have to carry any food with them. They are given their daily food, no leftovers and no waste. Third, God has made the manna perfectly nutritious for their needs. I read that a big problem in desert walking is constant foot swelling. God provided all the proper nutrition they needed in the manna. So much that we’re never told of any issues occurring with the peoples feet. And believe this, if their feet had been hurting they would have complained about it! Add nutritionist to the long line of God’s characteristics.
But what’s important to note is not just that God does provide for His people on this journey but how He provides for them. Today in chapter 17 we see Him provide water for the people in a most curious and strange way.
“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.” Ex 17:5-6
This is a beautiful picture we have here. This is the first time that “the Rock” is mentioned in God’s Word. Now think about a rock. It’s hard. Really hard. It’s good for many things but one of them is not for water. Yet that’s exactly where God sends Moses and the elders to get water. You see the Rock is a symbol of Jesus Christ. Look at what Paul tells the church at Corinth over 3000 years later:
“For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual Rock that accompanied them, and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Cor 10:1-4
Jesus Christ is the Rock. In the days of Moses rocks were used in a much different way than they are today. They were collected and used as foundations for homes. Without a good foundation, a home will, over time, crumble and fall. Jesus is not only the Rock, but He is called the chief corner stone. The one stone in the foundation that all others rely upon. You see when you went to lay a foundation you would have to do the math, the surveying and the planning and when you went to execute those plans it all started with that important first stone. If the first stone was crooked, or imperfect, the whole structure was in jeopardy. Look at these verses about Jesus as the cornerstone:
“Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.” Isaiah 28:16
“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor 3:11
“This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” Acts 4:11
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 1 Peter 2:6
Jesus Christ, the Rock, the stone, the chief cornerstone. God sends Moses, the elders and His people to the Rock. Today, 3500 years later God is still sending people to the Rock. To the rock that we can build the foundation of our lives on. If you build your life upon Jesus Christ, it will be a life that stands the tests of time. But notice that God doesn’t just tell them to simply go to the Rock. Or sit around it and sing songs. Or gather around it and just stare at it. He tells Moses to go and strike it and “all the people will drink from it.” Now why in the world would Moses need to hit the rock? Folks, this is a picture of the crucifixion of Jesus. You see, our sin required a sacrifice and Jesus was that sacrifice. The Son of God had to die and shed His precious blood to cover the sins of you and me. And as a result of that sacrifice, life flows forth. Because Jesus died on that Cross and rose three days later, we can live. Eternal life in Heaven in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ who sits at His right hand. The water that flowed from that Rock was not just important to their physical life in its hydration, it was vital to their soul.
What an unbelievable picture we have this morning in God sending His people to the rock for the living water of life. The rock is still there today in our lives. As we are parched from walking in this sinful world the invitation to the rock is always open. Go to the rock today and drink freely from the living water of Jesus Christ. From this water you shall never be thirsty again.
“Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” John 4:13-15
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