Exodus 17 Devotional

Among Us After All

“Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.”Exodus 17:6 (BSB)

At Rephidim there is no water, and the people quarrel with Moses until he tells the LORD they are close to stoning him (17:4). Underneath their complaint lies a deeper question: is the LORD with them or not (17:7)? God answers that doubt with water. He tells Moses to take the staff that struck the Nile and strike the rock at Horeb, and God himself will stand there before him (17:5-6). Paul later says Christ was the spiritual rock from which Israel drank (1 Corinthians 10:4).

Then Amalek attacks. While Joshua leads the fighting, Moses stands on the hilltop with the staff of God. Israel prevails while his hands are raised, and when they grow heavy, Aaron and Hur seat him on a stone and hold up his arms until sunset (17:11-12). The victory plainly belongs to the LORD, and Moses names the altar The LORD Is My Banner (17:15). Even Moses needed others to hold him up. God provides for his people when they doubt him, and he often holds them up through one another.

To think about: Who in your life helps hold your arms up, and whose arms could you help hold up this week?