Lord? 3. And the people thirsted there for water; and the people 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? 4. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and lake with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6. Behold, I will stand before theo there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?
Here is,
I. The strait that the children of Israel were in, for want of water; once before, they were in the like distress, and now, a second time, v. 1. They journeyed according to the commandment of the Lord, led by the pillar of cloud and fire, and yet they came to a place where there was no water for them to drink. Note, We may be in the way of our duty, and yet may meet with troubles, which Providence brings us into, for the trial of our faith, and that God may be glorified in our relief.
II. Their discontent and distrust in this strait: it is said, (v. 3.) They thirsted there for water. If. they had no water to drink, they must needs thirst; but this intimates not only that they wanted water, and felt the inconvenience of that want, but that their passions sharpened their appetites, and they were violent and impatient in their desire; their thirst made them outrageous; natural desires, and those that are most craving, have need to be kept under the check and guidance of religion and reason.
See what was the language of this inordinate desire.
1. They challenged Moses to supply them; (v. 2.) Give us water, that we may drink, demanding it as a debt, and strongly suspecting that he was not able to discharge it. Because they were supplied with bread, they insist upon it, that they must be supplied with water too; and indeed to those that by faith and prayer live a life of dependence upon God, one favour is an earnest of another, and may be humbly pleaded: but the unthankful and unbelieving have reason to think that the abuse of former favours is the forfeiture of further favours; Let not them think that they shall receive any thing, (Jam. 1. 7.) yet they are ready to demand every thing.
2. They quarrelled with him for bringing them out of Egypt, as if, instead of delivering them, he designed to murder them, than which nothing could be more base and invidious, v. 3. Many that have not only designed well, but done well, for their generation, have had their best services thus misconstrued, and their patience thereby tried, by unthinking unthankful people. To such a degree their malice against Moses rose, that they were almost ready to stone him, v. 4. Many good works he had showed them; and for which of these would they stone him? John, 10. 32. Ungoverned passions, provoked by the crossing of unbridled appetites, sometimes make men guilty of the greatest absurdities, and act like madmen, that cast firebrands, arrows, and death, among their best friends.
3. They began to question whether God were with them or not; (v. 7.) They tempted the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us, or not? Is Jehovah among us by that name by which he made himself known to us in Egypt?" They question his essential presence, whether there was a God or not; his common providence, whether that God governed the world; and his special promise, whether he would be as good as his word to them. This is called their tempting God, which signifies, not only a distrust of God in general, but a distrust of him after they had received such proofs of his power and goodness, for the confirmation of his promise: they do, in effect, suppose that Moses was an impostor—Aaron a deceiver—the pillar of cloud and fire a mere sham and illusion, which imposed upon their senses—that long series of miracles which had rescued them, served them, and fed them, a chain of cheats—and the promise of Canaan, a banter upon them; it was all so, if the Lord was not among them. Note, It is a great provocation to God, for us to question his presence, providence, or promise, especially for his Israel to do it, who are so peculiarly bound to trust him.
III. The course that Moses took, when he was thus set upon and insulted. 1. He reproved the murmurers; (v. 2.) Why chide ye with me? Observe how mildly he answered them; it was well that he was a man of extraordinary meekness, else their tumultuous conduct would have made him lose the possession of himself: it is folly to answer passion with passion, for that makes bad worse; but soft answers turn away wrath: he showed them whom their murmurings reflected upon, and that the reproaches they cast on him fell on God himself; Ye tempt the Lord, that is, "By distrusting his power, ye try his patience, and so provoke his wrath." 2. He made his complaint to God; (v. 4.) Moses cried unto the Lord: this servant came, and showed his Lord all these things, Luke, 14. 21. When men unjustly censure us and quarrel with us, it will be a great ease to us, to go to God, and by prayer lay the case before him, and leave it with him: if men will not hear us, God will; if their bad conduct towards us ruffle our spirits, God's consolations will compose them. Moses begs of God to direct him what he should do, for he was utterly at a loss; he could not of himself either supply their want, or pacify their tumult; God only could do it. He pleads his own peril, "They be almost ready to stone me; Lord, if thou hast any regard to the life of thy poor servant, interpose now."
IV. God's gracious appearance for their relief, v. 5, 6. He orders Moses to go on before the people, and venture himself in his post, though they spake of stoning him. He must take his rod with him, not (as God might justly have ordered) to summon some plague or other to chastise them for their distrust and murmuring, but to fetch water for their supply. Oh the wonderful patience and forbearance of God toward provoking sinners! He loads those with benefits, that make him to serve with their sins, maintains those that are at war with him, and reaches out the hand of his bounty to those that lift up the heel against him. Thus he teaches us, if our enemy hunger, to feed him, and if he thirst, as Israel did now, to give him drink, Rom, 12. 20. Matth. 5. 44, 45. Will he fail those that trust him, when he was so liberal even to those that tempted him? If God had only showed Moses a fountain of
