Review of Exodus 17

— by Victor Fawole

I welcome everyone to Exodus chapter 17 – a pivotal moment in Israel’s wilderness journey, where faith and doubt collide. This chapter recounts two events: the miraculous provision of water from the rock and the intense battle against the Amalekites. In this chapter, God’s presence and power are displayed, man’s weakness and rebellion are exposed. As we delve into Exodus 17, we’ll explore the timeless lessons of trust, obedience, and spiritual warfare that continue to resonate with believers today.

Here we go:

1. WATER MATTERS

Exo. 17:1-2 …but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?”

Notice the:

• Faithless Grumbling:
  Therefore the people contended with Moses…

Flashback to Exo. 15, the Israelites found bitter waters at Marah. There and then, God revealed His character as Jehovah Rapha, healing and sweetening the waters. This time around, there was no water to drink at all! It is not bad to have a concern. The important thing is what we do with our “concern”. Some people turn it into contention with God, some cry out to God. The Israelites did the former here. They looked at their situation and the conclusion they made was to contend – faithless grumbling!

Let us observe how they have accused Moses of wanting to kill them (or have them killed) in times past:

Exo. 5:21 And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Exo. 14:11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?

And now, they’re accusing him of doing the same…

Exo. 17:3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

What makes their grumbling here worse than that of Marah is that they quarrelled with Moses and were about to stone him (Exo. 17:4). Oh wow! They saw how plagues came upon Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, they drank sweet waters in Marah, and they’ve been eating free food every day in the wilderness. Yet, these people expressed a hardness of heart (Psa. 95:7-9).

• Faithful Genuflection:
  So Moses cried out to the Lord…

One of Moses’ most commendable attributes was that he always took his difficulties to God. This is the lifestyle that we should imitate whenever unexpected or troubling circumstances come up. Whenever we find ourselves in times of need, the most important thing is to call upon God, and He will be glorified when He delivers us. Before we do anything else, let us call upon the Lord.

• Flowing Generosity:
  Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”

God had been present with them as a pillar of fire and cloud of smoke, but now He wants to manifest His very presence. I was intrigued by this: When Moses struck the waters of River Nile, it turned into blood (Exo. 7:20-21), but when he struck the Rock in the wilderness, it brought forth waters! Oh wow!

God said: “I will stand before you…” More like an accused person standing to be judged. This was an astonishing event. It is man that stands before God, not God before man. In other words, seeing that He was being “accused” by the Israelites, Christ took the place of the “accused”, standing before them. He was struck with the rod of judgement – the rod of the lawgiver. He was not guilty, but He bore the judgement. When Apostle Paul gave his commentary on this event, he revealed that it was Christ who was present with Israel to provide water for them. He equated the rock with Christ (1Cor. 10:4). As the rock was struck to produce water, so was Christ “struck” to give us rivers of living water.

Hence, there can be no supply of the Spirit at Pentecost if Calvary never happened. We cannot enjoy the abundance of living waters without the smiting of our Rock (Jesus Christ). God offers a great and gracious invitation to drink from Christ the Smitten Rock (Isa 55:1, Rev. 22:17). Come now! It is free, full and flowing!

Before I leave this section, I recommend that you read these two articles by Pastor Dammy:

Speak To The Rock!

Confidence in the Finished Works of Jesus

We move on…

2. WARFARE MATTERS

Exo. 17:8-9 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”

Almost immediately after God blessed the Israelites with water from the rock, an enemy struck! The blessing of God is often immediately followed by a battle with the enemy. We must not lose our guard. We must be spiritually sensitive. A mountain top experience may be followed by a valley experience. A powerful ministration may be followed by a powerful temptation.

You will notice:

• The Contest:
  Now Amalek came and fought with Israel…

These Amalekites were the descendants of Esau’s grandson (Gen. 36:15-16). They launched an unprovoked attack against Israel. Was it that Esau told his children about how Jacob stole his blessings, and they passed the narrative on to their descendants? Were they trying to sabotage Israel’s efforts to claim the Promised Land? Could this be the reason for the animosity? This is me thinking out loud.

In Deut. 25:17-18, we have the analysis of the method Amalek used to attack Israel.

“Never forget what the Amalekites did to you as you came from Egypt. They attacked you when you were exhausted and weary, and they struck down those who were lagging behind. They had no fear of God.

So despicable. So treacherous. They came from behind and attacked the women, children, aged and persons with disabilities. It was a sudden assault. They targeted the weak. It was ruthless – no mercy shown to the tired and weary. They have heard about the God of Israel, but they had no reverence or regard for God.

• The Command:
  And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek…

This was Israel’s first war as a nation. In response to Amalek’s brutality, Moses called Joshua to lead the armies of Israel into battle. The strategy is worthy of note: Joshua would fight in the valley while Moses would be on the hill. Joshua would be using his strength while Moses would be drawing from God’s strength. They needed both Joshua’s sword and Moses’ staff – a beautiful union of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. There are some issues of life that will require us to work like it all depends on us and also pray like it all depends on God.

• The Control:
  And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed…

This reveals that the victory was actually from God. The rod of God represented the presence and power of God. Once it was raised, they had the upper hand, and vice versa. And when his hand got tired, Aaron and Hur improvised a seat for him and supported his hands on either side. I ran a quick check of the meanings of these two names.

• Aaron means Exalted, Strong, Warrior
• Hur means White, Light, Pure, Liberty

Permit me to see Aaron here as a picture of Christ – for He is our Exalted Warrior. Aaron was a high priest, a picture of our great High Priest (Jesus Christ). Also permit me to see Hur here as a picture of the Holy Spirit – for He is the Spirit of liberty. Why did I make this connection? Let’s take a quick trip to Romans 8. We see how both the Holy Spirit and Jesus help us with their ministry of intercession. We can easily be weak, but they are always there to help us!

Rom. 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Rom. 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

Can you see how blessed we are? Even in the toughest battles of life, in our weaknesses and weariness, we can rest on the supply of strength by the ministry of intercession of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!

• The Curse:
  I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” …the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

The Amalekites were the first nation to officially attack Israel after their redemption from Egypt. They received the full wrath of God’s curse upon themselves. Their attack on Israel was an attack on God – and God is indeed a “Man of war”. He does not shy away from man’s rebellious invitation to war. No one challenges God to a war and gets a taste of victory. God was a banner to Israel, but a barrier to Amalek. As our Banner, God is our fortress, our hiding place, our refuge, our stronghold, our dwelling place.

Dear Gogolights, let us pick our lessons from this chapter and run with them. When we are faced with economic crises, let us turn to God for provision. When we are faced with stiff enmity in this world, let us turn to God for protection and victory. Our victory is sure in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Tag five people and tell them: I enjoy the intercession of Jesus and the Holy Spirit!

God bless you for reading. See you tomorrow!

Grace to you, Church!