Israel is Thirsty: Lent Devotional

Please Read: Exodus 17:1-17

In Exodus 17 we observe two episodes that take place as part of the much larger story of God bringing his people into the promised land.

In the first episode, God leads the way but people get restless and put Him to the test. In the second episode, God commands the Israelites to go to war with Amalek, and they win the battle.

In the midst of the larger story we see that, as Terrence Fretheim puts it, the people of Israel are “a people between promise and fulfillment.” They have been promised a land that will be perfect and their own, but they must first walk through the wilderness. They have been walking for so long that they have become weary and distrusting of God.

These two episodes together illustrate a theme of being patient on God’s timing. In the battle with Amalek, God doesn’t allow the battle to be over in five minutes. Instead, it takes so long that Moses can’t hold his arms up by himself any longer. He needs help. God did intervene, but not immediately.

We can resonate with Israel being a people between promise and fulfillment. We have the promise that one day this earth will be made new; that there will be no more tears, injustice, hate, pain, violence, or war. We trust it to be true, but these things still surround us. We experience them.

It is passages like Exodus 17 that open our eyes to reality. We can look back on the Israelite’s walk in the wilderness and judge them with a shake of our heads. With our 20/20 hindsight we say, “you should be more patient.”

Yet God is more patient. Even though the people put God to the test, even though they quarrel with Him. He still sends them the miracle they asked for; the sustenance that they needed in the midst of the wilderness. It wasn’t the full promise, but it was a glimpse. He is patient with our doubt.

Sometimes we feel forgotten and alone. We feel as though we are never going to see God’s promises fulfilled, but we must remember that God is sustaining us in the midst of our wilderness.

This time, however, we have more than water from a rock. We have living water. Through Jesus we don’t just have a future promise of refreshment. We have it now.

God, teach us to see the big picture of not only what you are doing presently in this world, but what you have done in the past, and what you will do in the future. Help us to understand our place in the midst of the much larger story of your grace. Help us to submit to your will and your desires. Thank you for your Son and Spirit. Amen.

- Colin Whitehurst