In all their grumbling against the Lord Israel's underlying complaint was 'is the Lord among us or not'? As is clearly evident in Hebrews, this manifests their essential unbelief, and thus may be equated with walking by sight and not by faith (though, don't forget that they had the glory cloud already with them!). The question is whether we trust the Lord who is present, not simply demand his visible presence as some sort of 'proof'. In Exodus 17, not only did the Lord provide water for them from the rock (spiritually speaking, Christ...compare 1 Cor. 10:4), but he also delivered them from their enemies, by the agency of Moses' intercession and Joshua's military leadership. This passage introduces Joshua to the narrative, who will become so important in Israel's later history, and also provides an 'apprenticeship battle' for Israel, so that they would learn that the conquest of the land would not rely on their own innate power, but on the Lord. In all this the Lord speaks to us about the gracious and abundant nature of his provision in Christ, the Rock from whom we drink and the new Joshua who defeats our foes.
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Rev. Dr Noel Due is a Lutheran pastor, author and theological educator with extensive teaching and preaching experience in Australia, Scotland, India and elsewhere. He is the author of New Life: New Love, Live in Liberty: The Spiritual Message of Galatians, Embracing God as...
