◄ Exodus 17:3 ►
But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: "Why have you brought us out of Egypt--to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?"
Study Bible
But the people thirsted for water there
The Israelites found themselves in the wilderness of Sin, a barren and arid region. This phrase highlights their physical need for water, a basic necessity for survival. The wilderness journey was a test of faith, as God had previously provided for them through miraculous means, such as the parting of the Red Sea and the provision of manna. The lack of water serves as a recurring theme in the Israelites' journey, symbolizing spiritual thirst and dependence on God. This situation foreshadows Jesus' declaration as the "living water" in John 4:10, offering spiritual sustenance.

and they grumbled against Moses
Grumbling against Moses reflects the Israelites' lack of faith and trust in God's provision. Moses, as God's appointed leader, often bore the brunt of the people's complaints. This behavior is a pattern seen throughout the Exodus narrative, where the Israelites frequently express dissatisfaction despite witnessing God's power and deliverance. The grumbling signifies a deeper spiritual issue of unbelief and rebellion, which is addressed in Hebrews 3:7-11, warning against hardening one's heart.

“Why have you brought us out of Egypt—
This question reveals the Israelites' short-sightedness and nostalgia for their past, despite the harsh conditions of slavery in Egypt. It underscores a common human tendency to romanticize the past when faced with present difficulties. The Exodus from Egypt is a central theme in the Bible, symbolizing salvation and deliverance. The Israelites' questioning of their liberation reflects a struggle to embrace their new identity as God's chosen people, a theme echoed in the New Testament as believers are called to leave behind their old lives (2 Corinthians 5:17).

to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
The mention of children and livestock emphasizes the severity of the situation, as the lack of water threatened the entire community's survival. This phrase highlights the Israelites' fear and desperation, which often led them to doubt God's intentions and care. The concern for future generations and their well-being is a recurring biblical theme, pointing to the importance of faith and obedience for the sake of posterity. The Israelites' fear contrasts with God's faithfulness, as He ultimately provides water from the rock, prefiguring Christ as the spiritual rock who sustains His people (1 Corinthians 10:4).

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Israelites
The chosen people of God, who were delivered from slavery in Egypt and are now journeying through the wilderness.

2. Moses
The leader appointed by God to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and guide them to the Promised Land.

3. Rephidim
The location where the Israelites camped and experienced a lack of water, leading to their grumbling.

4. The Wilderness
Represents the period of testing and reliance on God for the Israelites as they journey to the Promised Land.

5. Grumbling
The act of complaining against Moses, which reflects a deeper issue of distrust in God's provision.
Teaching Points
Trust in God's Provision
The Israelites' grumbling reveals a lack of trust in God's ability to provide. Believers today are called to trust in God's provision, even in difficult circumstances.

The Danger of Complaining
Complaining can lead to a hardened heart and a lack of faith. Christians are encouraged to cultivate gratitude and trust instead.

Leadership Challenges
Moses faced significant challenges as a leader. This passage reminds us of the importance of supporting and praying for our leaders.

Spiritual Thirst
Just as the Israelites experienced physical thirst, humans have a spiritual thirst that only God can satisfy through Jesus Christ.

God's Faithfulness
Despite the Israelites' complaints, God remained faithful. This reassures believers of God's unchanging faithfulness.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the Israelites' reaction to their thirst reflect their spiritual state, and what can we learn from this about our own responses to challenges?

2. In what ways does the account of the Israelites' grumbling at Rephidim parallel our own struggles with trust in God's provision?

3. How can we apply the lessons from Moses' leadership in this passage to support and pray for our leaders today?

4. What are some practical ways we can combat a spirit of complaining and cultivate gratitude in our daily lives?

5. How does the concept of "living water" in John 4 provide a deeper understanding of the Israelites' physical thirst in Exodus 17:3?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 16
The Israelites previously grumbled about food, and God provided manna, showing a pattern of God's provision despite their complaints.

Numbers 20
Another instance where the Israelites grumble about water, highlighting a recurring struggle with trust.

John 4
Jesus speaks of living water, offering a spiritual solution to the physical thirst experienced by the Israelites.

Philippians 2
Paul encourages believers to do everything without grumbling, contrasting the Israelites' behavior.
Sermons
Refreshing Thoughts for the Hot SeasonT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.Exodus 17:1-3
Rephidim: Ancient and ModernJ. Parker, D. D.Exodus 17:1-3
Want of Water a Terrible ExperienceExodus 17:1-3
Christ Our SpringH.T. Robjohns Exodus 17:1-7
The Giving of Water in RephidimD. Young Exodus 17:1-7
The Water from the RockJ. Orr Exodus 17:1-7
Trial and FailureJ. Urquhart Exodus 17:1-7
People
Aaron, Amalek, Amalekites, Hur, Israelites, Joshua, Moses
Places
Egypt, Horeb, Massah, Meribah, Nile River, Rephidim, Sinai
Topics
Bring, Cattle, Death, Die, Egypt, Grumbled, Hast, Kill, Livestock, Murmur, Murmured, Outcry, Sons, Thirst, Thirsted, Thirsty, Wherefore
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 17:3

     1418   miracles, responses
     5265   complaints
     5567   suffering, emotional
     5822   criticism, against believers
     5928   resentment, against God
     6163   faults

Exodus 17:1-3

     4293   water
     5569   suffering, hardship

Exodus 17:1-6

     5580   thirst

Exodus 17:1-7

     4278   spring of water
     5473   proof, through testing
     5924   quarrelsomeness

Exodus 17:3-4

     5945   self-pity

Exodus 17:3-6

     1330   God, the provider

Library
Nature of the Renderings
From the text we now turn to the renderings, and to the general principles that were followed, both in the Old and in the New Testament. The revision of the English text was in each case subject to the same general rule, viz. "To introduce as few alterations as possible into the Text of the Authorised Version consistently with faithfulness"; but, owing to the great difference between the two languages, the Hebrew and the Greek, the application of the rule was necessarily different, and the results …
C. J. Ellicott—Addresses on the Revised Version of Holy Scripture

Jehovah Nissi
'And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi [that is, the Lord is my Banner].' --EXODUS xvii. 15. We are all familiar with that picturesque incident of the conflict between Israel and Amalek, which ended in victory and the erection of this memorial trophy. Moses, as you remember, went up on the mount whilst Joshua and the men of war fought in the plain. But I question whether we usually attach the right meaning to the symbolism of this event. We ordinarily, I suppose, think …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The War of Truth
Now, beloved, this scene of warfare is not recorded in Scripture as in interesting circumstance to amuse the lover of history, but it is written for our edification; for we remember the text which says--"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our profit." There is some profit to be derived from this--and we believe a peculiar profit, too, since God was pleased to make this the first writing commanded by Divine authority as a record for generations to come. We think that the journeys …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

How Churches Can Help Ministers.
Text.--And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses's hands were heavy, and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon: and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side: and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.--Exodus xvii. 11-13. You who read your Bibles will …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

Exhortation to Prayer.
…
John Newton—Olney Hymns

The Waters of Meribah
'Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 4. And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Intercessor
'These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee: As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI

Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Reaction against Egypt
THE XIth DYNASTY: HARMHABI--THE HITTITE EMPIRE IN SYRIA AND IN ASIA MINOR--SETI I. AND RAMSES II.--THE PEOPLE OF THE SEA: MINEPHTAH AND THE ISRAELITE EXODUS. The birth and antecedents of Harmhabi, his youth, his enthronement--The final triumph of Amon and his priests--Harmhabi infuses order into the government: his wars against the Ethiopians and Asiatics--The Khati, their civilization, religion; their political and military constitution; the extension of their empire towards the north--The countries …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 5

Jehovah. The "I Am. "
WHEN Moses in the desert beheld the burning bush God answered his question by the revelation of His name as the "I Am." "And God said unto Moses, I am, that I am: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exod. iii:14). He who spake thus out of the bush to Moses was the same who in the fullness of time appeared upon the earth in the form of man. Our Lord Jesus Christ is no less person, than the I AM. If we turn to the fourth Gospel in which the Holy …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

"Because the Carnal Mind is Enmity against God, for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. "
Rom. viii. 7.--"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Unbelief is that which condemns the world. It involves in more condemnation than many other sins, not only because more universal, but especially because it shuts up men in their misery, and secludes them from the remedy that is brought to light in the gospel. By unbelief I mean, not only that careless neglect of Jesus Christ offered for salvation, but that which is the …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Epistle xxviii. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli .
To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli [136] . Gregory to Augustine, &c. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke ii. 14); because a grain of wheat, falling into the earth, has died, that it might not reign in heaven alone; even He by whose death we live, by whose weakness we are made strong, by whose suffering we are rescued from suffering, through whose love we seek in Britain for brethren whom we knew not, by whose gift we find those whom without knowing them we sought. …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Ninth Sunday after Trinity Carnal Security and Its vices.
Text: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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