Exodus 17

17 From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as theLord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” ³ But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” ⁴ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” ⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶ I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ He called the place Massah^[a] and Meribah,^[b] because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lordamong us or not?”

Amalek Attacks Israel and Is Defeated

⁸ Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹ Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹ Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹² But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set. ¹³ And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a reminder in a book and recite it in the hearing of Joshua: I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ And Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner. ¹⁶ He said, “A hand upon the banner of the Lord!^[c] The Lordwill have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

                  _____________________________________________________________

     "Is the Lord among us or not?" Such a good question. I mean, it was not a good question the way that the Israelites asked it.  But it is a great question.  It comes up when there are obviously good things that God is doing and yet ________________.  For the children of Israel it was obvious that God was with them because the manna and quail continued to fall and the Holy One was leading them through the wilderness.  And yet they had come to a place with no water...and then they were attacked by an army when most of them had never held a weapon in their lives.

     For me this usually comes up in the category of money.  God is obviously doing good things at work or at home.  It is clear that we are moving the direction that He is calling us into.  And yet we are broke...or we can't pay payroll...or a check bounces.

     "Is God among us or not?"  The assumption that the Israelites have, and that I have, is that if we are following God, if we are doing what He says, then our path should be trouble free.  We have made a contract, right?  He is our God and we are His people.  As such, when he says to do something and we do it then the responsibility lies with Him to make sure that this endeavor goes off without a hitch.  If He is all-powerful and all-knowing and everywhere at the same time, that should be within His abilities, right?  If you say "yes" to a crazy invitation and make great sacrifices to follow Him doesn't it make sense that He would clear the path of obstacles for you?

     I don't think this out consciously, but it is certainly in my head.  I know this because when obstacles come up (money, water, cancer, aggressive armies or whatever) I suddenly find myself questioning whether this was actually the path that I was supposed to take or not.  God is good and would not lead me into something painful, right?  Doesn't the Shepherd's Psalm talk about Him guiding us away from danger and into restful plenty?  And yet, here are the Israelites, led to a place with no water.  Why?  That is the question we want the answer to.  Is God testing them?  Is He wanting them to grow in relationship and dependence on Him?  Was He just not paying attention?  There has to be a reason, right?  

     Life is hard.  Rich or poor, man or woman, child or adult, faithful or unbeliever...life is hard.  It should not surprise us, but it does.  Challenges, threats and dangers strike everyone.  And every moment
                                                           every moment
                                                           every single, solitary moment provides us an opportunity to come face to face with our Creator and accept or reject him.  It is our choice, over and over again every day.