AND MOSES STRUCK THE ROCK AND WATER CAME OUT OF IT.

    In our previous lesson we sought to bring you the inspired word of God taken from the new testament, but today we are going to seek to bring you something from the old.  Have you ever been asked to do something based on a commandment of God?.  have you ever been frustrated because you had to endure some suffering because of Gods command?  Have you because of suffering as a result of being obedient to God become angry at the servant of God, whom he used to pass along a message from God?.  These are the questions that this report will seek to explain as well as give answers for. Our text is taken from Exodus 17:1-17.  We will begin by studying its first verse, and it begins with the children of Israel pitching thier tent at Rephidim also known as the wilderness of sin.  At Rephidim they stoped and pitched thier tent but there was no water for the people to drink. Of course thirsty and frustrated with the process of struggling in the scorching heat, to get to this point, the people of course within reason became concerned, and demanded that Moses give them water to drink.   Moses in response to the request, asked them in vs 2 why chide with me, wherefore do ye not tempt the Lord?.  In the next verse with no water still in sight the people again murmured against Moses, not only did they accuse him of bringing them out of Egypt (a place that signifies bondage for the children of Israel) to kill them and destroyed all that they have, they also accused him of wanting to destroy them. Wow!!! can you feel the tension building in the man of God who is obviously just a servant of God that was sent by God to deliver a people out of a terrible situation.  Moses obviously scared and frustrated with the situation in vs 4. cries to God, saying" what shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me? God answered Moses in vs 6. smite the rock, and water will come out of it.  Moses obeyed.  In vs. 9, of that chapter  God is seen obviously documenting this experience for future generation of chiders.  God wanted them to learn not to be chiders.  God also wanted them to also be more spiritually developed than the people of the past.  Moses names the  place Massabah and Meribah, because of the angry demand for water tempting the Lord, saying, is the Lord among us or not. 

     Many times in our lives God has commanded us to do what by every means seems like is the very imposiible.  Asking people to go to a place witout a map or direction, to place that is supposedly to become a place of rest for them seems like an almost impossible task.   I mean think about it even in lay mans terms six days we work but on the seventh day we must rest.  When one begins in the first day to work there are moments when it seems like sabath will never come.  The week is full of trials and tribulations some days you wonder if you will make it to work or not, make enough money to buy this or pay for that.  Many mistakes during the week are made also that you wonder if you will be free enough to keep on being strong to make ends meet, that when Friday comes just when you thought that you would never find a solution to your problems, Christ comes and dies for you.   In his death you feel a loss but just when you think that all hope is lost that stagnancy is your portion, or that you will never rise again Christ rises on the sabath, and gives us completeness in him on sunday, as the number seven rightly indicates.   This is the salvation that God has in store for us when we go through valleys, hills, trials, and tribulations.   We must be reminded, that if God can raise the stones to praise him, he can save  us out of a bad situation.  This is how powerful our God is.  If God can strike a Rock to become water for you and I in the desert(for we are like the children of isreal), he can die for us and rise again just so we can have eternal life and rest in him.  All we need to do is be obedient and believe in him, and he will direct our path.

Written by;

Sis Rachael Adewumi(Editor in chief)