THE LORD PROVIDES THE WATERS OF LIFE.
In the name + of Jesus.
When the nation of Israel left Egypt, a
census was taken. The count of men eligible
for military service was over 600,000 men.
Add in the women, the children, and the elderly, and this was a nation
of about two million people. Now recall
that they had flocks, herds, and other animals with them. They were all in the wilderness. A wilderness is an area not suitable for
farming; grazing, perhaps, but not agriculture.
There were no fields of grain, orchards of fruit, or vineyards.
Just a few months earlier, they had been
living in Egypt. There the Nile River
offered an endless supply of water. Because
of the Nile, crops were plentiful in variety and quantity. Of course, the downside of being in Egypt was
forced labor and brutal treatment. The Egyptians
had little compassion for the people of Israel.
At one point, the royal policy was genocide—the death of every Hebrew
baby boy. So, the food in Egypt might
have been good, but life in Egypt was unbearable.
The Lord, in his mercy, delivered the
people of Israel from the brutality and slavery of the Egyptians. He not only led the people of Israel to freedom,
he also destroyed the Egyptian army who pursued them. Pharaoh’s army was consumed by the Red Sea. They would never pose a threat to Israel again. This nation of about two million people was
delivered by the Lord who had sworn to give them a land of great abundance and
riches. But they were not there
yet. The Lord led them through a
wilderness where he promised them: If they would obey his word, he would bless
and keep them.
It seems that God’s goodness and God’s promise
were forgotten quickly. “All the congregation of the people of
Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the
commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there
was no water for the people to drink. …
And the people grumbled against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us up
out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst’” (Exodus
17:1,3)?
Can you imagine being the parent of a young
child saying, “I’m thirsty,” but there is no water to be found? Why would Moses intentionally lead an entire
nation to a place devoid of a key necessity for life? As soon as the journey got hard, they quarreled
with God and with Moses. They even made
an accusation: “Is the Lord among us or not” (Exodus
17:7)?
Oh, how quickly people forget the Lord’s
goodness! Would the Lord really go
through all the trouble of the plagues, the Passover, and the deliverance
through the Red Sea just to let the nation of Israel die in the wilderness? The Lord had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob that the land of Canaan would be given to their descendants. Would the Lord renege on his oath? Was he incapable of keeping it? Is God so callous, so indifferent that he
would neglect the people he had chosen for his own? Of course, not.
It is easy for us to scoff at the panic
and impatience of the Israelites because we know how the story ends. The Lord provided them with the water of life—and
remember: This was enough water to quench the thirst of two million people with
their flocks and herds! We also know that
the Lord delivered them to the Promised Land, just as he swore he would. It is easy to be confident when you know the
end of the story. And it is easy to be
at peace when it is someone else who is going through the hardship.
Your
life knows its share of hardships, too.
Some things are merely inconvenient and annoying. Having a power outage for two days is
inconvenient. Waiting on the phone for
customer service and having to deal with a computer instead of a person is
annoying. Road construction is annoying
and traffic delays are inconvenient. We might
complain that these are hardships, but they really aren’t. Real hardships produce panic or tears.
As time goes by, the Lord delivers you
into more and more hardships. Often,
this means that blessings get taken away from you. You were probably blessed by your parents for
much of your life. But eventually, they
are taken away from you. You have been
blessed by many friends, but they may move away, become estranged, or die. As you age, you can lose your hearing, your
eyesight, your balance. You may have to
give up driving your car or living in your home. Perhaps you may not have to wait until you are
that old. You may suffer from some virus
or disorder that robs you of mobility or memory. You may be plagued by anxiety or depression. Medical bills may drain your bank account. Like the Israelites, you may wonder: “Is the Lord among us or not” (Exodus
17:7)?
Oh,
how quickly we forget the Lord’s goodness!
Remember what the Lord has done for you.
He became a human being and subjected himself to the sorrows and pains
of a sinful world. He engaged with people
who cared about his healing touch but not about his preaching. Jesus’ disciples frustrated him with their
lack of understanding and with their arguments about which of them was the
greatest. He was betrayed by one, denied
by another, and forsaken by all of them.
He was falsely condemned by the Church and unjustly sentenced to be
crucified by the State. At the cross, he
offered up his sinless life on behalf of all who sin against him. He suffered in silence for all who complain
about him. We accuse, “Is the Lord among us or not” (Exodus
17:7)? when he has never forsaken
us. To atone for this, Jesus was forsaken
by his Father—not merely suffering hardship, but enduring hell so that we will
never have to. The heavenly
Father poured out his anger upon Jesus when he should have done so to us. Now, after Jesus has done all that for you, after Jesus marked you as
his very own through your baptism, do you think he will abandon you and let you
suffer hardship on your own? Repent.
Moses memorialized the place where he struck the rock and where God provided
the water of life for millions of people and for their animals. “He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because
of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord” (Exodus 17:7).
Meribah means “place of quarreling.”
Massah means “place of testing.”
But who tested whom? Yes, the people
put the Lord to the test when they suggested that he was not loving or
faithful. But God also tested the people
of Israel. God sent hardships upon the
people of Israel to see how they would respond.
Would they call upon the Lord for mercy, or would they find fault with
the Lord because his ways are too hard? Would
they forget the Promised Land and return to Egypt, reasoning that full bellies
were worth broken backs, that Egyptian slave masters were better than the Lord? They did—more than once. Nevertheless, the Lord was merciful. Perhaps they would learn the lesson: God does
not forsake his people even in times of hardship.
The Lord provided the water of life to the people of Israel because they
needed it. It sustained them through
their wilderness journey to the Promised Land.
In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul noted that God’s provision
was not a one-time event. The journey of
two million people through wilderness land was a hard journey. The Lord often led them to places where provisions
were scarce or absent, but he always provided for their needs. St. Paul wrote, “Our fathers were all
under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were
baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the
same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that
followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4). The Lord was always with his people, and he
always provided the water of life to sustain them.
It is no different for us. We
live in a world which is hostile to God’s word.
We live with hardships and suffering and loss. The Lord tests us through these difficulties. The loss of family and friends is hard. The loss of sight and hearing is hard. The loss of mobility and memory are hard. Stress, anxiety, and depression are hard. But through all these things, the Lord
remains with us. He teaches us not to trust
in the many blessings he gives us. They
will all pass away. In the end, we have
what we need even without them. Despite our
losses, the Lord supplies what we need to live.
He desires us to trust in him alone for our peace and confidence. No matter what we suffer or lose, we will
discover that, with Jesus, we have all we ever needed. For he will bring us into our heaven home.
The Lord provided the people of Israel with the water of life. It was not just the water that flowed from
the rock that they needed to survive the wilderness. Jesus supplies the water of life which is his
Gospel message. This is the word that
refreshes us in the harsh world. The
world will not become less harsh. The
word of God will always be despised.
Hardships, sorrows, pain, and loss will continue to pile up. But fear not.
Jesus is our Immanuel, God with us, even when the hardships. He provides the water of life which comforts
and sustains us as we pass through this world to the heavenly Promised Land. And he gives us a feast which strengthens us
on that journey home. Jesus gives us his
very body and blood which forgives our sins and sustains our faith. The body and blood which have overcome death supply
us with the life-giving resource we need to endure a dying world. The peace of Jesus refreshes us in a hostile world. The water of life from Jesus quenches our
thirsty needs.
It is easy to be confident when you know the end of the story. Well, you do know the end of the story. We confess it each week: We look for the resurrection
of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Jesus has secured your place there.
He sealed you as his own through your baptism. He lives and reigns for you, and he does not
forget his own.
It is easy to be at peace when it is someone else who endures the hardship. Jesus has endured the hardship for you. He bore the guilt of sin, the wrath of his Father, and the curse of death for you. While you may suffer hardships and difficulties, none of them can truly harm you. Not even death can harm you. For you have a resurrection to life everlasting. You have a heavenly Promised Land that awaits. Jesus will provide all you need to get you there.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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