QT 5 Apr 10

Ex 17:1-7 (NIV) The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink."

Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?"

3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?"

4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."

5 The Lord answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

NOTE: Grumble number four. This is actually the second time that water becomes an issue. Verse 7 gives a key to the real issue "Is the Lord among us or not?" or in other words, does God really understand what I am going through, and more importantly, does he care? They don't doubt the power of God, but rather the love and care of God. That is always the issue in understanding suffering and pain. Some discount God's power to intervene, others discount God's awareness, and some discount whether God is truly loving. The argument is that He cannot be all three and allow evil and suffering. What is missing in the line of argument are two key points. One, evil and suffering is a result of the fall and a consequence of our rebellion -- it didn't have to be that way. Two, this life is not the end of existence, and any temporal pain in this life will never overshadow the joy of eternity. We put too much stock in our earthly existence, even believing that it is our reward for right living, or a right that we can demand from God--but that is not true.