Tuesday: Water From the Rock
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 12th of August 2025
In the wilderness, you need plenty of water. God took care of this problem, even though the people were quarrelsome, did not trust Him, and even tested His ability and willingness to give them water. In their unbelief, they looked back to Egypt.
Read Exodus 17:1-7. What lesson should the people have learned from this incident?
Image © Pacific Press at Goodsalt.com
Moses called the place Massah, meaning “testing,” and Meribah, which signified “quarreling.” The Lord gave the Israelites water despite their unbelief. These two names should have reminded the Israelites not to test God and not to quarrel with Him (Hebrews 3:7-8,15). They seriously questioned God’s presence among them, although they had already seen much tangible evidence of not only His presence but of His power and His authority.
“Moses smote the rock, but it was the Son of God who, veiled in the cloudy pillar, stood beside Moses, and caused the life-giving water to flow. Not only Moses and the elders, but all the congregation who stood at a distance, beheld the glory of the Lord; but had the cloud been removed, they would have been slain by the terrible brightness of Him who abode therein.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 298.
Water is a symbol of life because without water there is no life. Every cell in our body needs water. We are 60 percent water ourselves. Even our bones are composed partly of water. Thus, providing water in the wilderness for them was a sign for the Israelites that God cared for their needs and that they could trust Him. But, again, they had to obey.
Many centuries later, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:4, reminds believers that the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness was unique. Christ Himself not only guided them but provided them with water (Psalms 78:15-16) and met other spiritual and physical needs. Paul proclaimed: “That Rock was Christ.” For them, Christ was the Source of life and the Giver of eternal life. As a rock is solid, so God firmly led His people. One can count on Him because He does not fail to fulfill His promises.
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What are some things that, right now, you need to trust God with? How can you learn to submit to His will and wait for Him to act in His time? Why is this not always so easy to do? |
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“So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded (Exodus 17:1, NLT).
Habitual complaining displeased God, and the wrath of God destroyed them. As we know, this generation of chronic complainers was not allowed to enter the Promised Land except Joshua and Caleb.
“Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused” (Numbers 11:1).
Persistent grumbling and complaining did not make God provide them with water. The moment God purposed to bring them into the Promised Land, He had already created provisions for water and food along the way (Exodus 3:8; Exodus 16:4). Habitual grumbling and complaining make us shift our focus from God to the problem.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4: 6-7, NLT).
“Is the Lord among us or not?” is a question the children of Israel could ask after a series of miracles and wonders God had performed—the 10 plagues, the splitting of the Red Sea, bitter water turned sweet, quails and manna. But still, they grumbled, they "tested God," they contended against God.
It is no wonder that Moses would ask God, “What shall I do with this people?” And, hmm! How quickly we also forget that God loves us, and we quickly abandon His ways for something sweeter or more pleasing—our way! How it used to be done! Our traditions!
I sometimes feel that today's Christians, instead of learning from God, are more focused on teaching God. This was the case for Israel, but we could blame the extended exposure to captivity in Egypt, which conditioned them to comparisons with the past. But what is our excuse today? Why do we test God? Why do we contend God?
Stanley, to answer your question, what you’re sensing is something Scripture often calls hardness of heart—and it’s not just an ancient Israel problem; it’s a human problem.
Israel’s long years in Egypt certainly shaped their mindset, but the real root wasn’t just cultural conditioning—it was unbelief. They struggled to trust God’s wisdom when His plan didn’t match their expectations. That’s why, even after miraculous deliverances, they grumbled, argued, and sometimes outright tried to “teach” God what they thought was best.
Today, our setting is different, but the heart issue is the same. Some of the reasons we test and contend with God include:
• Pride in our own understanding
• Impatience with His timing
• Selective trust
• Cultural influence – Just as Egypt shaped Israel’s thinking, today’s culture promotes self-reliance and personal autonomy over submission to divine authority.
• Spiritual forgetfulness
Ultimately, testing God or contending with Him often comes from wanting Him to fit into our framework, instead of allowing Him to transform us into His. That’s why the Psalmist prayed, “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name” (Psalm 86:11).
Amen!
Supplying water in a desert is always a big problem. We know about this in Australia where most of the country is arid. (I have to say in seems a bit incongruous to mention this at the moment because we have had sufficent rain in the north to cause rivers that are usually just sandy creek beds to flow something like 30km wide. They are currently filling Lake Eyre, which is fast becoming the largest lake in Australia.) But that does not obscure the issue that multiple inland towns have serious water supply problems most of the time. When we visited several towns in Western Australia a few years ago it was common to see large signs throughout the country towns, "Do not drink the reticulated water!" It's a bit rough when local government authorities have to issue health warnings about the water they supply to the townspeople and their visitors.
There is a logistical issue with the Exodus story as we understand it. Simply put, if the numbers recorded in the Bible are accurate, then the water supply problem is not going to be fixed by what we see illustrated in the pictures of Moses striking the rock. The skeptics have a field day with this and I don't want to get sidetracked on the issue, other than to say that I believe that God solved their water problem probably in more ways and places than were recorded in Exodus.
Was it right for the Hebrews to complain? Should we never complain when we see a shortage of essentials? We like to make a lot of noise about trusting the Lord and so on, but I would like to add another dimension to this problem. Moses was a "learner" leader, and had yet to learn that he did not have to carry the burden of the problem on his own. The fact that Jethro, his father-in-law, came in later and did a business case study and told Moses he was taking on too much himself, is an indicator that Moses still had his learner-plates on in the leadership school. When you read today's passage, you get the impression that Moses still had some learning to do in the area of patience and trust.
Is there a take-away lesson from this. The Hebrews were in the process of being refined into a nation through their arid-land experience. It took time and a history of shared events for both people and leaders to learn what it means to work in a coordinated way. We, the Church today, is still in the process of making our way through spiritual arid-land and we still have much to learn. Tolerance and understanding go along way in developing survival skills.
As always, Maurice, your comments make me think deeper. I've never considered the logistics of this passage, but I wonder if the amount of water that came out of the rock was enough to create a lake or a few rivers spreading around the rock while they were there. A million or so people would need a lot more water than the little bit that is typically portrayed artistically. I suppose it's one of those questions we will ask of Moses in heaven.
I can very much relate to Moses and his learning leader process. On a much smaller scale, I have many of the same struggles Moses did. No matter how many times I read about Moses, I always learn something new to apply for myself.
If we want to go back a little further, the whole Egypt exodus scenario was set up by God. He created or allowed (depending on how you want to look at it) the famine to happen in Canaan, preceded by the abundance in Egypt. This brought about Jacob’s family going to Egypt in the first place.
One reason it’s hard to submit and wait on God’s will is the uncertainty of His plan — the tension between trusting His goodness and facing the unknown.
Not knowing the details stirs anxiety because:
1. We want the full roadmap – God gives light for the next step, not the whole journey (Psalm 119:105).
2. We fear the “what-ifs” – Worrying about unwanted outcomes.
3. We mistake silence for absence – God’s quiet is often preparation, not abandonment (John 13:7).
4. We judge by our clock – His timing is perfect, though not ours (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
5. We want certainty before obedience – But God calls us to follow first, then understand.
The key is anchoring our trust in God’s character rather than in knowing every detail of His plan.
Bitter waters, Quail, Manna, No water source.
Why was God angry with His people as described in Numbers 11:33? It was because they forgot of all the things God had done for them to bring them out of slavery. And they could not see His plan for them, His plans for them to be a light to other nations. God wanted them to have the wilderness experience to build their dependence on Him, being a reflection of His love. Instead of going to God with their gratitude, praise, and glory, then asking for their needs, they complained to their elders, and the elders complained to Moses. Then Moses had to do what they failed to do. He had to ask God for them. God wanted them to learn to depend and lean on Him not the leaders. Their hope had wavered, imagining that in the future their children would go hungry, their trust in God was not matured yet. Their trust was only from one miraculous rescue to the next. They failed to pray, Our Father who art in heaven give us this day our daily bread and water. Keep us from wanting more than our needs.
God wants us to lean on Him not others. At the same time He gives us others to love, encourage, and help. Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 10:20,
"Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." 1 Peter 5:2-4.
I dare say that you will be among the remnant, if you follow the love Peter told us to do. Isaiah 10:21. For those worried about, does not sound like righteousness by faith, God wants His servitude out of love. After you have fallen in love with your spouse, doing good for her or him is a walk in the park.
I wonder - what is the most prevalent disposition of the average Christian today? Is it genuine gratitude and thanksgiving, or is it a constant pivot between happiness and discontent? It would be revealing, and perhaps humbling, to do some soul-searching about our own sense of ‘happiness’ and what we find causes it.
We can find deep roots of self-reliance throughout Israel’s journey in the wilderness, not because they ‘rebelled’, but because that is what they, and for that matter, anyone does who does not know that it is our God Supreme who undergirds and governs all efforts regarding the sustaining of life – Isaiah 41:13..
Phil. 4:19 – Paul states: My God will provide all your needs ... But even after all that time had gone by, there was still ‘unbelieve’ present in the Israel. That causes me to ask: “what is really at the core of ‘rebellion’”? Is it not ignorance and the hubris to think that we can govern our own affairs? Only by accepting this God as our Creator can our life change for the better – Isaiah 46:4.
Can anyone judge rightly who’s eyes have not yet been opened to God’s Truth and the ‘righteousness’ it produces – trusting Him, resting in Him, and loving Him with all our heart? No! Our hearts made new by the Spirit of God feels compassion for the lost, not judgement or condemnation. Those who do not yet understand that God knows the 'heart' of man will be ‘happy’ to find that it is He, our Creator, who provides for all our needs - Matt.6:26; 33.
Sometimes, what we see does not seem fair. But we need to trust the Lord because He is the One Who transforms pain into pleasure and suffering into victory. All things are done in the power of the Lord. We need to develop patience!