“Water From The Rock”
Exodus 17:1-7 & John 4:5-26
3-12-2023
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. “You can’t squeeze water from a rock!” I wonder who coined that phrase? It doesn’t matter. But generally speaking, people say something like this to describe a person’s destitute financial situation. If someone threatens to sue you, the response may be, “You can’t squeeze water from a rock!” In other words, you’d be wasting your time because there’s nothing there to get. However, I wouldn’t advise using that line with God. As you heard in our Old Testament reading, He can indeed make water come from a rock. And God used this miracle to teach a much deeper lesson, both for the people of Israel and for us.
To discover that gem, we need a quick review of the context of what’s going on here. The Book of Exodus starts out with Israel as slaves in Egypt. And God raises up a guy named Moses to be their deliverer and lead them out of captivity. Moses goes to Pharaoh and says, “God says, ‘Let my people go.’” Pharaoh laughs and says “No way.” What followed was a series of 10 devastating plagues which afflicted the Egyptians but not the Israelites. Finally, after the death of the firstborn in all of Egypt, Pharaoh cries uncle and lets Israel leave. But once they clear the borders of Egypt, Pharaoh changes his mind. He doesn’t want to lose all that free slave labor, so he chases after them. When the Egyptians catch up to them, Israel is trapped with their back up against the Red Sea.
Let’s pause for a second to take note of a pattern which begins to develop with these Israelites. They’re in a tight spot, and what did they do? They complained and grumbled against Moses, saying it would have been better to stay back in Egypt than to be slaughtered in the desert. Pure and simple it was a rebellion against Moses and ultimately, a lack of trust in God whom Moses served. But God overlooked their complaining and told Moses to stretch out his staff over the water. When he did, the sea parted and Israel walked across on dry land.
There’s an important fact that you need to remember—God had been visibly present with His people in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. That’s how He led the Israelites out of Egypt. When it came time to cross the Red Sea, that pillar of cloud moves between the Israelites and Egyptians. In football terms, He ran interference for His people. Once the Israelites were all safe and sound on the opposite shore, the Egyptian army went after them in hot pursuit. It was an ambush, though, because God caused those walls of water to come crashing down on the Egyptians, drowning every last one of them.
The Israelites were awestruck. After the 10 plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea, and the drowning of the Egyptians, the Israelites surely must have been convinced that God was with them and that Moses was their main man. Think again. 3 days—that’s all it took. They were out in the wilderness and they didn’t find any water along the way. When they came to a place called Marah, they found water alright, but it was too bitter to drink. So, what did they do? They resorted to their old habit of grumbling against Moses. And God once again was patient. Rather than destroy these ungrateful whiners, He had Moses throw a piece of wood into the water and it miraculously became drinkable.
Things went smoothly for a while, until another “crisis” came along. Israel had left Egypt just one month prior. They had witnessed all the miracles I just described. And yet, they began grumbling again. This time they complained because they felt they were running out of food. Personally, I would have lost my cool with these spoiled brats. Like before, they basically accuse Moses of leading them out into the desert just to starve them to death. “Oh, we had it so good back in Egypt where there was always a pot of stew to sit around and eat freely of.” I would’ve blown a gasket and said, “Okay wise guys, all in favor of going back to Egypt and being worked to death as slaves, line up. Cuz I’m taking your sorry rear ends back there!” Instead, Moses took that complaint to the Lord. And once again, God overlooked the grumbling. He sent manna and quail for them to eat. And that miracle kept coming to them for the next 40 years!
All that is the background leading up to our text for today. You’ve seen the pattern that developed whenever Israel faced a crisis. They complained rather than trusted. So it shouldn’t surprise us that it happened again, and it was over the lack of water again. I find it ironic that the name of the area they were traveling through was the Desert of “Sin”. In English, that’s quite descriptive of what these people were doing there. In Hebrew though, the word means “clay”. It was probably called that because overall all it was a hard, miserable, desolate place to live. Anyway, the Israelites whined, “We would’ve had it so much better back in Egypt.” And our text says that Moses feared that they might stone him to death in their rebellion.
Moses made it clear that they’re on dangerous ground because they were testing God. But thankfully God is merciful and patient. Once again, He overlooked the grumbling and provided relief. He told Moses to go to a certain rock at Mount Horeb. There, with some of the Elders as witnesses, he was to strike the rock and water would come out. And that’s what happened. Life-giving water flowed from that rock for the people to drink. But please notice what verse 7 then says. Moses named the place Massah, which means “testing,” and Meribah which means “quarreling,” because Israel had quarreled against the Lord and tested Him by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” That is a key verse for us to focus on.
So, was God among them? Certainly! He had visibly shown His presence in that pillar of cloud and fire. He had listened to their complaints and had provided for their physical needs. But St. Paul reveals a deeper truth about what happened there in the desert with that water from a rock. 1 Corinthians 10:3-4 says, “{They all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” Think about that a minute. These sinful people were rebelling against God and yet in response He didn’t strike out at them in anger. Rather, He had Moses strike the Rock which brought forth life-giving
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water for them. That Rock Moses struck was more than just granite or limestone. Paul says it was none other than Christ Himself! Was God among them? You bet. Their Rock and their Redeemer was there providing for their needs.
That gives us an insight into what happened in our Gospel reading. Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. Once again, human thirst is an issue. But Jesus quickly turns it to a discussion of spiritual thirst. He says to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Later, in John chapter 7, Jesus declares, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Jesus offers the life-giving spiritual water that we all need to save our souls.
But where does that life-giving spiritual water come from? As we’ve seen, it comes from the Rock, which is Christ Jesus. And here’s the connection between our Old Testament reading and the Gospel. Not only is Christ the Rock which supplies life-giving water for the soul but that Rock was struck in order to bring forth this precious water. In a symbolic way, Moses struck the Rock and water gushed out for a sinful and rebellious people. Likewise, Jesus Christ, the Rock, was struck by God on the cross to bring forth the water of eternal life for us. As we just sang in the sermon hymn, Jesus was “stricken, smitten, and afflicted” for us sinful and rebellious people; a people who grumble and complain against a gracious God. And yet, in His mercy, He is patient and provides us with what we so desperately need. He strikes His Son, the Rock, and from Him flows spiritual water for our thirsty souls. From Him flows life and salvation.
I ask this a lot, but do you remember what the Catechism says? In the 3rd part on Baptism it asks the question, “How can water do such great things?” And the answer is, “Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God's word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit...” One of the ways that Jesus Christ supplies His life-giving water for our souls in Holy Baptism. That precious Rock was struck for you and me so that His life-giving water could flow freely. And as Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, once we have received this spiritual water it becomes in us “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
In earthly terms, water from a rock is impossible. And yet God has given to us spiritual water for our thirsty souls from the Rock, Jesus Christ. Like Israel, we too may be tempted to ask: Is God still among us today? Yes, in His Word and Sacraments He is among us. Through these Means of Grace, Christ is present and brings us life-giving water for our souls. Recognizing what God has done for us, may we humbly repent of all our sinful grumbling and complaining against our gracious God. Instead, may we raise our grateful voices in praise to our Savior. And may our hearts trust in the Rock of our salvation as we continue to receive His sustaining, spiritual water for our souls. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!