[And He Walks With Me] Exodus 17
1 Rephidim is located in the southern part of the Sinai peninsula. The exact location is unclear, but modern scholars identify it with Wadi Refayid.[102] Alternative theories equate it with Wadi Feiran or a location in northwestern Saudi Arabia near the town of Al-Bad.[103] In any case, the region is known for its mountainous terrain and extremely hot, dry climate. Moreover, even today, this area has a population density of only about 12 people per square mile (5 people per square kilometer). This compares to approximately 58 people per square mile (22 people per square kilometer) in the US state of Iowa. This explains why the entire Israelite community continued moving from one place to the next: there simply were not enough resources in any one place to sustain the population for long. In short, the people were getting closer to Mt. Sinai, where they would have an up-close-and-personal encounter with the Lord and receive the clearest application of his exposition of his character and will, namely his commandments (see Exodus 19), but they had to go through the desert to get there. We may know and experience God, but the most common way to know him better and deeper is through difficult, scarce, and lonely places.
2-3 How much time passed between the end of 16, where God provided manna and the people learned to trust him for their daily provision, and this verse, where they once again complained about the lack of water? The people of God would do well to remember what God has done in order to sustain their faith a little longer.
3 Regarding Israel’s complaint, see note on 16:1-3.
4 The reader can feel Moses’ frustration with the people: What should I do with these people? For myriad reasons, leaders are often tempted to grow frustrated with the people they lead. E.g., They do not move. They do not move in the right direction. They do not move quickly enough. They complain while they move. It is important to notice that God’s response in vss 5-7 remained patient and gracious, and he provided the water the people needed. While God’s patience will eventually wear thin, the leader will do well to note that God’s patience with his people is generally far greater than the leader’s own and so check whether his/her frustration level matches God’s.
As a leader, it is often tempting to assume the worst. One little thing goes wrong, a couple of people begin to complain, and the imagination quickly concludes the worst possible outcome is bound to happen. Here, Moses concluded, In a little while they will stone me! There are two problems with this conclusion. First, it forgets all that God has done which led to this moment. Consequently, the new obstacle seems insurmountable. This is why Paul exhorted the Philippians to Rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4) and in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:5, emphasis added). Deliberately, consistently celebrating who God is (e.g., his holiness and faithfulness) and what he has done, both for us personally and for his people in Scriptures and through history, is crucial to fostering faith that will not evaporate when challenges arise. Second, it assumes the leader is solely responsible to find a solution for the challenge and, ultimately, for mission success or failure. Yes, Moses cried out to the Lord, but notice again the content of that cry: What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me (emphasis added). Automatically assuming the worst possible outcome simultaneously aggrandizes the leader and diminishes or even omits God. As such, it is a sort of idolatry which must not be tolerated among God’s people.
5-7 Yet again, God provided the solution to Israel’s problem in such a way they could not deny his reality or power. Before some of the elders of Israel, Moses was instructed to hit the rock at Horeb with the promise that, when he did it, water will come out of it and the people will drink. Everyone knew that water does not come from a rock, and no human hitting it, even with a stick, can change that.
Horeb is also known as the “mountain of God” (e.g., 3:1; 18:5). Thus, the water which sustains God’s people flows from the mountain of God and, ultimately, from God himself.[104]
Perhaps the most remarkable bit of this passage is the understatement. There is no explanation of how God brought water from a rock. There is no description of what it looked like. One can imagine the rock splitting in two, water suddenly erupting like a geyser, and the people suddenly rushing forward to partake of the shower. Yet, none of these details are included in the account. Instead, we have a simple note: Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. Often, God does not work in grandiose, cinematic ways. He simply works in undeniable ways.
7 The word Massah means “testing,” and Meribah means “quarrelling.” The name was intended to remind the people of how they turned on Moses and each other just before God provided and therefore, the next time things grew difficult, trust God to provide instead. That is, they were tested and failed. It also stands in stark contrast to other cultures which literally erase failures from their histories. The people of God will recognize that lessons taken from failure are some of the most important. In the words of the song, “So I’m thankful for the scars / ‘Cause without them I wouldn’t know Your heart / And I know they’ll always tell of who You are / So forever I am thankful for the scars.”[105]
8 The Amalekites were a seminomadic tribe originating in Edom but ranging throughout the region.[106] They were descendants of Abraham and Isaac through Esau. Specifically, Amalek was the son of Eliphaz, Esau’s oldest son, and his concubine Timna (Genesis 36:12), making them distant cousins of Israel.[107]
The timing of Amalek’s attack is important. When Israel arrived in the region, the locals had little choice but to recognize their presence as a threat to their survival. There were simply not enough resources to sustain the population. When God provided water from the rock, it may seem to the modern reader that the situation was resolved: God provided for his people in such a way that they would not burden the resources that sustained the neighbors. However, in a region of scarcity, a new source of water may have been seen by the Amalekites as an irresistible opportunity to control a new resource. Often, in the immediate aftermath of God’s working, others will rush to attack in order to claim God’s work for themselves.
Deuteronomy 25:17-18 provides additional details about the Amalekite attack. There, it is revealed that the Amalekites met you along the way and attacked all your stragglers from behind when you were tired and weary. That is, they ambushed Israel from behind, targeting the sick, elderly, and tired who straggled behind the rest of the formation.[108]
9 This is the first appearance of Joshua in Scriptures. At the time, Joshua was likely approximately 45 years of age. He belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, and his assignment here to muster an army to fight the Amalekites foreshadows his later role leading the conquest of the Promised Land (see the book of Joshua).
While God can and will from time to time unilaterally provide victory, the formula here is far more common: Joshua and the men were to go fight, and Moses would stand on the hilltop with God’s staff in [his] hand, visually representing God at work on Israel’s behalf in the battle. God’s people should see themselves less as beneficiaries of God’s work than as partners in God’s work.
Notice the timing of Israel’s counterattack. Joshua was to select some men for us today, and tomorrow Moses will stand on the hilltop with God’s staff. Selecting the men and preparing to fight were to be acts of faith. Joshua and the rest of Israel had to act on the belief that God would show up and do his part in the future. This marks a significant milestone in the people’s transition from reactive fear in which they feared the Lord because of a wonder he already performed (see note on 14:30) and proactive faith in which they trusted the Lord for what he was going to do (see note on 16:4-5).
10-13 This is the first appearance of Hur. He will appear again with Aaron in 24:14. Tradition indicates he was the husband of Moses’ sister, Miriam, but this is nowhere stated in Scriptures. The same name appears also in 1 Chronicles 2:18-20 and Exodus 31:2 as the grandson of Caleb and grandfather of Bezalel, but it is impossible to determine with certainty that this is the same man.[109]
The role of Aaron and Hur must not be overlooked. Leaders can do a great deal on their own, but on their own, they lack staying power. Leaders must surround themselves with people who will support them in a variety of ways so they will be able to continue for the long haul.
Although it is not explicit, the intervention of God is certainly implied. Joshua and his men fought against Amalek while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. As seminomadic herdsmen, the Amalekites were not exactly Egypt, but the Israelites were still merely former slaves and were thus even less equipped for such a battle. Moses raising and lowering his hands certainly had no direct benefit to the combatants. The exact significance of this movement is debatable, but similar to when Jacob added the branch to the sheep’s water (see Genesis 30:37), the raised arms were a token of Moses’ and Israel’s faith and therefore acted as a conduit for God’s power. Everyone on both sides of the battle knew this victory was the result of God’s intervention. Indeed, as the African proverb says, “The chimpanzee fights because he counts on the help of the gorilla.” That is, Israel was able to fight and prevail only because God was on their side.[110] This is further substantiated in vss 15-16
14 The command to write this is the first indication of literacy among the people of God. Writing was apparently invented concurrently in both Egypt and Mesopotamia during the late fourth millennium BCE. These forms, however, were not alphabetic. Ancient Hebrew and several other semitic languages seem to derive from a common alphabet which first appeared in the first half of the second millennium BCE. Prior to the Iron Age, it is virtually impossible to assess literacy rates among the Israelites.[111]
The command to blot out the memory of Amalek must be considered in its proper context. First, it was not preemptive. Amalek attacked Israel first by ambushing Israel from behind and picking off the elderly and weak. Second, it was common for nations of this time to receive commands from their gods to blot out nations.[112] In fact, Egyptian records indicate Pharaoh Merneptah used a similar mandate to justify his claim that he had eradicated the seed of Israel from Canaan in approximately 1209 BCE.[113] Obviously, most such assertions were exaggerated. For example, the Egyptians did not really eradicate Israel. In the case of the Amalekites, however, the nation disappeared from history after its remnant was destroyed during the reign of King Hezekiah in the late 8th or early 7th century BCE (1 Chronicles 4:43).[114]
15-16 Although God is not mentioned during the actual battle (see vss 10-13 and notes), it becomes clear here that Moses attributed the victory to him nonetheless. Despite the clarity of the CSB and other modern English translations, it is unclear in the original Hebrew whether The Lord Is My Banner was to be the name of the altar or a title for God himself.[115] In either case, it was a reference to the streaming banners which were commonly flown by armies going into battle. These banners were crucial in identifying and coordinating friendly units. Thus, the title pronounces that Israel belongs to the Lord, and the Lord is the one who deserved credit for the victory.
[102] Barker and Kohlenberger 2004, Exodus 17:1-2
[103] “Rephidim”, n.d.
[104] Wells 2016, Exodus 17:6
[105] Hulse et al. 2018
[106] Keener and Zondervan 2016, Numbers 13:29
[107] Barker and Kohlenberger 2004, Exodus 17:8
[108] Barker and Kohlenberger 2004, Exodus 17:8
[109] Barker and Kohlenberger 2004, Exodus 17:10-13
[110] Adeyemo 2010, Exodus 17:8-16
[111] Wells 2016, Exodus 17:14
[112] Keener and Zondervan 2016, Deuteronomy 25:19; Wells 2016, Deuteronomy 25:19
[113] Keener and Zondervan 2016, Deuteronomy 25:19; Wells 2016, Deuteronomy 25:19
[114] Barker and Kohlenberger 2004, Deuteronomy 25:19
[115] Barker and Kohlenberger 2004, Exodus 17:15-16