At this point in the journey, the people of Israel had arrived and camped at Rephidim and found no water to drink. This was part of the Lord’s training process for their life. He was using a moment like this to sanctify them. They could trust the Lord and sought a solution from Him. They seemed to have forgotten what God did for them in Exodus 15. He had helped them once when the water of Marah was bitter and undrinkable. They should have remembered how God showed Moses a way to turn the bitter water into sweet and drinkable water. What they were going through should have made them gather in prayer and wait for God to provide a solution. But instead of doing that and trusting the Lord, they again quarrelled with Moses. Angrily, they demanded that he gave them water to drink. Including this time, they would have already grumbled against Moses four times. The first time was in Exodus 14:11 and 12 when they were caught between Pharaoh’s advancing army and the Red Sea. Then again in Exodus 15:24 at Marah when they discovered that the water was bitter. The third time can be found in Exodus 16:2 when they craved for the meat and bread. Here at Rephidim would be the fourth time they grumbled against Moses.
They were literally accusing Moses of plotting their death. Verse 3 puts it this way, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” One can almost detect the hostility in their tone. The quarrel they picked was not with Moses per se. They were picking a fight with the Lord. How do we know? We know from how Moses framed his response. He asked them “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” Moses was only God’s instrument to guide them. He was not God, and could not possibly have been aware that there was no water there. Herein is a key lesson. It is perfectly alright to bring all our problems to God in prayer, in a posture of trust. To murmur and complain is a reflection of our distrust for God. He has no problem with our honesty or even our doubt, but He cannot accept when we rebel against Him and malign Him.
Rephidim was supposed to be a resting place. Instead of resting in the Lord, they bitterly complained against Him. In these three verses, we can see that they were guilty on two counts. When they angrily demanded, “give us water to drink,” they were being childish and insisting on their own way. We should never treat God as if He is our servant. Like them, we must remember that we should be serving Him and not the other way around. Don’t ever treat God as if He is our servant to serve us at our deck and call. Don’t expect God to serve us at our terms, we must be the one to take God at His word and run with it. Secondly, when they accusingly said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” They were saying that God could not protect them. There was a deeper implication in this question. In reality, they were saying that God did not have the capacity to protect them and see them through their problems. It is not uncommon in our day, to hear of Christians complaining bitterly against God when they encounter a seemingly tough situation in life. Let us never doubt God’s capacity to see us through, no matter how difficult our circumstance may seem. God is faithful. In every tough time, He is working out the situation for our good. Trust Him!
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