Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the Rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the Rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the Elders of Israel.
In the first seven verses of the seventeenth Chapter of Exodus, we read where God had led the people of Israel (by their leader, Moses) into the desert, where there was no water. The people were complaining to Moses because they were thirsty, and just when he thought they were about to stone him to death, he cried out to God for help. God responded as He always does.
God uses symbolism. In this Passage, we find several symbols that are important and relate to our lives today. The “desert” symbolizes a spiritually dry place. The “Rock” is a symbol of Christ. “Water” is always representative of the Holy Spirit.
With that symbolism in mind, this is what happened: God used His chosen man (Moses) to lead His people into a spiritually dry place (the desert) where they would become very thirsty to the point of death. Here, they would learn just how much they need water (the Holy Spirit).
They complained to their leader and blamed him for taking them there. They got so mad that they were about to stone Moses to death. Their complaining was a display of their unbelief. If they really trusted God, they would not have been complaining but praising God and faithfully waiting for Him to provide for their needs. The people knew they needed water, but they didn't know where to find it.
Their answer was the water (the Holy Spirit), and the source of the water was the Rock (Christ). However, the Water would not be released from the Rock until Moses struck it with the rod. The striking of the Rock is symbolic of Christ's death on the Cross, which released the Holy Spirit to all who believe.
When Moses struck the Rock as the Lord instructed him to, a River of running Water gushed forth from the Rock for all the people and their animals to drink. Moses named the place where this happened, Massah and Meribah, which means tempted, contention, and strife, because the people asked, Is the Lord among us, or not?
We see this same situation today in America. The lack of the Holy Spirit has caused our land to dry up spiritually. Many of God’s people are complaining that they are spiritually thirsty. There is contention and strife everywhere we turn. God’s people in America are asking, Is the Lord among us, or not? This was a sign of unbelief and a lack of faith in the days of Moses, and it is today as well.
Just as in the days of Moses, the answer to our dry land is Water. We must go to the Rock (the Cross of Christ) and seek the River of running Water (the Holy Spirit). There is no need to strike the rock because the Work on the Cross is already complete. Jesus accomplished this 2,000 years ago. Today, the Water comes by faith in the Rock. Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of Living Water. (John 17:37-38)
When we place our faith in the Rock, the Water will once again gush forth across this great land. Only God can heal our land. It is the Holy Spirit of God (the Water) who is the Healer. The Source of the Holy Spirit is the Cross of Christ. If America does not go to the Rock in faith and seek the Water, we will continue to dry up.
The Living Water will……..turn the tide
At the Rock, Doreen
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