How Yahweh relates with his creations (series 67)

Exodus:  Freed but still Slaved (2)

Bible Texts (Concordant Version of the Old Testament and Concordant Literal New Testament with keywords Concordance (Main text: Exodus chapter 17)

Israelites continued to demonstrate their ingratitude as they complained against Moses and Aaron after they left Elim and were going towards Mount Sinai. They blamed these two helpless brothers for all calamities they suffered as a result of the thirst they in the wilderness of Zin. For a record purpose, NKJV called this wilderness Sin but it is actually pronounced as Zin. It is not Sin as in act of missing mark, mind you.

Moses admonished the children of Israel the same way he did in last week blog. He simply admonished them to cry to Yahweh and not to him and his brother. They appeared to be lacking understanding that Yahweh called Moses and Aaron to Shepherd them from Egypt to the Promised Land. Yahweh should be their focus, not these two men.  Surely, these Israelites would not want to do that. They did not know Yahweh but Moses and his brother. This kind of attitudes went on many incidences for 40 years. Yahweh is patience indeed.

Moses reported to Yahweh on the threat he had experienced from these ingrates concerning their thirst.   They were almost stoning him for their ordeals. Yahweh did something that is remarkable on this situation. He informed Moses to take the same rod used to separate the red sea with him and called Aaron and a few Israelites' Elders to come to a Rock at Mount Horeb. He told Moses that he would be on the top of the Rock and face the people called to get closer to the Rock. Then, he told Moses to strike the Rock in the presence of Aaron and these Elders. Water came out of the Rock when Moses struck the Rock in the presence of Aaron and Israelite Elders. What a miracle.

My observations:

1.  One more thing in this bible chapter is the correlation with I Corinthians 10:4. The scripture showed us that the Israelites drank from the Rock that followed them (in the wilderness). This implies that it was Christ Yeshua that was with them in this journey. This was also pointed out in Exodus chapter 3, 4 and 14. Sometimes, Yahweh/God has been put in the place of Christ Yeshua. I have an audio podcast made to clarify this issue. It may be published as an article or a blog in the future.

2.  Please, understand that water is not one of the components that formed Rock. Rock is formed from molten Magma which is beneath Earth crust. Therefore, for water to come out of Rock, it must be nothing short of a great miracle. Indeed, Yahweh makes impossible things possible according to his plans for humanity. This time, faith was not found among Israelites but with Moses who was instructed.  That place of miracle was called Meribah because the Israelites doubted the presence of Yahweh among them in the face of their calamities. What a shameful thing to know about these people.

Despite Israelites' unfaithfulness, Yahweh moved on to the next thing on his agenda. He pitched the children of Amalekites against them. If you remember in my previous weekly blogs, Amalekites were mentioned in the book of Genesis. According to Genesis 36:12, Amalek was one of the Grandsons of Esau born through a concubine known as Timna. The descendants of Amalek were called Amalekites. These people were fed with wrong information that Jacob (Israel) cheated Esau to receive blessing from Isaac. This is why the Amalekites had rod in the pickle for the Israelites. This made me wonder whether Esau truly forgave Jacob his brother. The Amalekites had been waiting for a long time to show their grievances but Yahweh had a plan to eradicate these people in the long run. However, at this time, Joshua was in command as he led the inexperience Israelites into their first ever physical battle. Moses was aware of his people's inexperience but trusted in Yahweh to defend them in this battle.

Moses stood up on the Mountain during this battle with his two hands on the rod lifted up. As he did this, the Israelites were winning but as he suffered pain and his hands were lowering, the Amalekites were winning. To ensure the Israelites continued to win this battle, Aaron and Hur impliedly carried supported Moses who never asked them for assistance. Sometimes, our leaders should remember that they are also humans and they need support of their trusted allies. Nobody is a "Macho". You would see another example of this in the next chapter. In the long run, there were much causality but the Israelites through General Joshua finally won the battle as Aaron and Hur held his two hands up to keep Moses holding his rod up until the battle was over. Phew! That was a hell of pains on Moses.

                                                                                               

In conclusion, Yahweh informed Moses to write both two major incidences in this bible chapter for remembrance and they should be recounted not only to Joshua but to the Elders in Israel and eventually to all children of Israel. Why was this important? Yahweh wanted Moses to keep record of all wonders he performed among the children of Israel. He also wanted the Israelites to develop faith through hearing of his past miracles among them (Romans 10:17). Do you think at least, the majority of Israelites would develop faith through hearing of Yahweh's miracles that were performed among them? Let us wait until next week blog to find out. Thanks for taking time to read this week blog.

 

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Shalom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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