Exodus 17:7 …Is the LORD among us, or not
Years ago, when my wife and I first started traveling, I never thought about the problems that come up because of travel. I never thought about the things that could go wrong with my truck, trailer, or anything else. Now, over long experience, I know a lot of things that can go wrong because they have gone wrong. I can think of three times at least where we broke down in a desert. It is quite a feeling to be in the wilderness, have a problem, and not be sure what you are going to do. Maybe you feel like you are in a dry spot, a desert of sorts, maybe spiritually or in some other way. Let me remind you that being in a desert does not necessarily mean being deserted. You may be in a desert, but God has not deserted you.
When God guides and where God guides, God provides. That is something that Israel had to learn, not just the man Israel but the nation Israel. They had come out of Egypt. God had rescued them from slavery and now they were in this wilderness wandering.
Exodus 17 says that as they camped out in the wilderness, there was no water for the people to drink. That is a big problem, particularly when you are talking about the old and young, a multitude of people. Because of this lack of water, they had a question that in theory was good, but was actually tempting the Lord, which was not good. The question was, “Is the LORD among us, or not?” Why did they ask that? Did they ask that when things were serene and fine? No, they did not, although they really hadn’t had much time for things to be serene. But they asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” The questions we should ask today are not, “Am I physically fit? Am I fabulously wealthy? Do I have a lot of friends? Is everything going swimmingly well?” No, the one question should be, “Is God with me or not?
Unfortunately, sometimes it is hard to image the one without the other. It is hard to imagine that God could be with us if we feel like we are in some kind of desert. Let me remind you that if you are following God, don’t doubt God’s presence. God led Israel and He was going to provide for them. He led them out of Egypt and was going to lead them into Canaan. The same provision is there for you. If you are following God, don’t doubt His presence.
Don’t doubt His presence in problems. God is there. Israel had no water and what did they do? They doubted and wondered if God was there because of the problems they had. It is not hard to find people or religions that are prospering financially but know nothing of God and do not care about God. Is that the same as being blessed? When we say, “Hey, God has really been blessing,” do we mean there are no problems or do we mean that God is guiding and we are following? Which is better, to have everything you want but be far from God or to be with God in times of need?
Exodus 16:3 talks about the hardships of the children of Israel. It says, “Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt.” They thought that the slavery they came from was better than the freedom they had because freedom meant some kind of hardship. Exodus 14:12 has the same sentiment, “For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.” In Exodus 17:3 they murmured against Moses and said, “Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst.” They thought that following God was not as good as slavery in Egypt.
Later they basically said, “We remember when we freely ate of the fish and onion in Egypt.” Did they freely eat? How misguided could they have been? They didn’t do anything freely in Egypt. They were slaves, but sometimes the certainty slavery provides is preferable in our minds to the uncertainty of the freedom of trusting God. God led them out of Egypt and slavery, and there are some things worse than starving. One of those things is not following God, not doing what you know to be right. You may not know how to interpret the past and you do not know the content of the future, but you can know what is right, right now. Israel was doing right, but they doubted God’s presence in their problems.
They doubted God’s presence in their people, the people God was using in their lives. In verse 2 they chided with Moses and then complained and argued with Moses. Moses said, “Wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?” In verse 3 they essentially said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to kill us?” Moses hadn’t brought them up. God did through Moses. Exodus 16:2 says, “And the whole congregation…murmured against Moses and Aaron.” Moses basically told them, “When God delivers, you are going to know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. Who are we that ye murmur against us? The Lord hears your murmuring. Your murmuring is not against us, but against the LORD.” We tend to glorify or chide people instead of realizing they are simply vessels God is using.
Later on in this chapter, they faced an enemy, the people of Amalek. In both problems God told Moses, “Take your rod.” The rod wasn’t magical; it was just a tool in Moses’ hands, and he was just a tool in God’s hands. I don’t know how God is using the people in your life, but don’t divorce God from the problems and the people in your life. Don’t be blind to God’s working. Do I know how God is going to use people in my life? No, and you don’t either. That is why it is easier to complain to people than to cry to God.
Psalm 105 has a commentary on these events. Verse 41 says, “He [God] opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.” The desert became a river because it was a place of God’s leading and God’s provision. Today you may feel like you are in a desert place, but being in a desert place is not the same as being deserted. You are not deserted. You are not alone. If you are following God, don’t doubt God’s presence in your problems or in your people. God is at work in your life today.