EXPLORE THE TEXT
God will go to great lengths to show His care and provision for His people.
1 The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin,
moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command.
They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.
2 So the people complained to Moses,
“Give us water to drink.”
“Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them.
“Why are you testing the Lord?”
3 But the people thirsted there for water and grumbled against Moses.
They said, “Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt
to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord,
“What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!”5 The Lord answered Moses,
“Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you.
Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go.
6 I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb;
when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.”
Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Complained
A different word occurs here from the previous references to Israel’s grumbling.
Instead of lun (as in 15:24; 16:2,7-8; 17:3),
Moses used riyb, which is much stronger.
It carries a legal connotation and means
to “bring charges, protest, contend with.” Usually, it is associated with anger.
“Meribah” (v. 7) comes from this same word.
The people were treating Moses as their opponent.
God had repeatedly protected and provided for them,
yet they continued to complain that Moses was trying to kill them (v. 3).
Moses was exasperated and more than a little concerned for his life (v. 4).
The location may have had plenty of room; what it lacked was water.
read through the content for verses 3-6 (PSG, pp. 61-62).
discuss the people’s actions and Moses’s response.
Point out that everyone’s emotions were getting the best of them.
Apparently, Moses’s faith cracked under the strain (Ps. 106:32-33).
What should I do with these people? sounds like he was taking on more responsibility than God gave him. Of course, the simple answer is, Do whatever God tells you.
Apparently, Moses also forgot the assurance God provided from the burning bush.
There, God had guaranteed His presence with Moses at every turn (Ex. 3:12a).
This meant Moses’s life was in the Lord’s hands, and he would successfully complete the task the Lord had given him.
God also gave Moses a sign (3:12b).
He would personally bring Israel to Mount Sinai.
God’s only response to Israel’s insolence was to provide water and to remind them that Moses was His servant.
God stood with Moses as his staff hit the rock.
Just as Jesus identified with the manna, the bread of life (John 6:35),
Paul identified Christ as “the spiritual rock,” who repeatedly satisfied Israel’s thirst (1 Cor. 10:4).
Jesus continues to furnish “streams of living water” for His people (John 7:38).
Israel had forgotten what God had just done to provide for them,
and Moses was letting fear and frustration blind him to God’s promises.
Despite the people’s complaints and Moses’s fear, God still went to great lengths to show His care and provision.
Review these points from Apply the Text on page 63 of the Personal Study Guide:
Using Pack Item 13 (Handout: God in the Wilderness), call for volunteers to relate how each summary statement is reflected in today’s passage.
Encourage adults to reflect on the first set of questions on page 63 of the PSG. Facilitate a conversation about how tolerant God is with our complaints and grumbling, what circumstances cause us to complain to Him more, and how we can replace our complaining with a spirit of gratitude and thanks.
Encourage adults to look for opportunities to be God’s hands and feet in meeting the needs of others. Call for a volunteer to voice that desire in a closing prayer.
Reinforce the session this week by sending an email or text to each person in the group, encouraging them to look for opportunities to trust God to provide during their difficult circumstances. Suggest that they write this session’s memory verse (Ex. 16:12) on a card and place it where they will see it during the week. Challenge them to thank God for His provision and to seek forgiveness for their complaints every time they see the card.
God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. (See Psalm 23:1; Matthew 6:25-34.)
Use a concordance and/or Bible dictionary to better understand a passage.
Read the article on manna in a Bible dictionary. Use a concordance to locate other biblical references to manna. Focus on John 6:30-35. How did the manna in the wilderness point to Jesus?