Water from the rock at Rephidim

17:1 The whole community of the Israelites traveled on their journey from the Desert of Sin according to the Lord’s instruction, and they pitched camp in Rephidim. Now there was no water for the people to drink. 17:2 So the people contended with Moses, and they said, “Give us water to drink!” Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 17:3 But the people were very thirsty there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world did you bring us up out of Egypt – to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” 17:4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What will I do with this people? – a little more and they will stone me!” 17:5 the Lord said to Moses, “Go over before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go. 17:6 I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in plain view of the elders of Israel. 17:7 he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Israel camped at Rephidim and had no water. The people complained against Moses and tested the Lord. Moses cried out to God, and the Lord told him to strike the rock. Water came out for the people to drink. The place was named Massah and Meribah to remember Israel’s strife and testing.

The people were traveling by the Lord’s instruction, so this crisis did not mean they had gone outside his will. Still, there was no water, and the people turned in anger against Moses. Their words were not humble trust. They were contending with the Lord and testing him by asking whether he was truly with them.

Moses responded rightly. He cried out to the Lord instead of answering the people in his own strength. The Lord then gave a public command. Moses was to go before the people with the elders and take the same staff used in Egypt. The Lord would stand before him on the rock at Horeb, and Moses was to strike the rock. Water would come out so the people could drink.

Moses obeyed, and God gave water in a miraculous way. The elders saw it, so the provision was not hidden or doubtful. The naming of Massah and Meribah kept the meaning of the event before Israel. The place remembered their testing and quarrel, and their question: “Is the Lord among us or not?”

• God graciously provides for his people in the wilderness.
• Real need can become sin when it turns into unbelieving contention.
• To complain against God’s appointed servant is to test the Lord who sent him.
• Moses acts as mediator by crying out to the Lord and obeying his word.
• The Lord’s presence, not human strength, is the source of provision.
• Massah and Meribah became memorial names for Israel’s strife and testing.

• Warning: Do not test the Lord by doubting his presence and goodness in hardship.
• Warning: Complaint can become unbelief when it treats God’s saving work as a failure.
• Promise: The Lord can provide what his people truly need.
• Command: Moses must go before the people with the elders and strike the rock with his staff.
• Command: The people are to remember this event as a warning about strife and testing.

This event belongs to Israel’s wilderness journey after the exodus and before the covenant at Sinai. It shows that the redeemed people live by ongoing divine care. The passage also prepares Israel to know that the Lord is truly present with his people, even when they face need and temptation to unbelief.

When hardship comes, believers should bring their need to God with faith, not with angry testing. This passage warns against treating every lack as proof that the Lord has left his people. It also teaches gratitude, reverence, and trust in God’s care. God may meet real need, but his provision does not excuse unbelief.

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