The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 17
Chapter XVII · Vol. I, pp. 323–324
1 The people murmur for water at Rephidim. 5 God sendeth them for water to the rock in Horeb. 8 Amalek is overcome by the holding up of Moses' hands. 15 Moses buildeth the altar JEHOVAH-nissi.
1 AND all the congregation of the children of Israel a journeyed from the wilderness of Sin,8 after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was b no water for the people to drink.
a Nu. 33.12-14. ch. 16.1; ver. 7.
8 The wilderness of Sin, now the plain of Kâa, lies along the shore between the mountains of Sinai and the Gulf of Suez. On leaving it the Israelites must have entered the wild mountain defiles on their route to Sinai. At least two stations—Dophkah and Alush, Nu. 33.13—intervened between Sin and Rephidim. The site of Rephidim is most probably at the tomb of Sheikh Saleh, in Wady esh-Sheikh, about three hours' march from Mount Sinai.—P.
2 Wherefore the people did c chide with Moses, and said, Give us water, that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye d tempt the LORD?
3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, e Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us, and our children, and our cattle, with thirst?
4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Whatf shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to g stone me.
5 And the LORD said unto Moses, h Go on before the people, and take with thee of the eldersi of Israel; and thy rod, k wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6 Behold,l I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
l Nu. 20.8,9. Ps. 78.15,16; 114.8; 105.41. De. 8.15. Ne. 9.15. Is. 48.21. 1 Co. 10.4.
7 And he called the name of the place Massah,7 and Meribah,8 becausem of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
8 Thenn came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.9
n Ge. 14.7. De. 25.17-19. 1 Sa. 15.2,3. Nu. 24.20.
9 The Amalekites inhabited the desert plateau north of the mountains of Sinai. Watching their opportunity they attacked the main body of the Israelites in the rear, as they approached Sinai through the great Wady esh-Sheikh.—P.
9 And Moses said unto o Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the p rod of God in mine hand.
10 So q Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur, went up to the top of the hill.
11 And it came to pass, when Moses r held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12 But Moses' hands were s heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur t stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 And the LORD said unto Moses, u Write this for a memorial in a book,1 and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for x I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
u ch. 34.27. De. 31.9, 22. Is. 8.1; 30.8. Hab. 2.2,3.
1 Literally, 'in the book,' i.e. the sacred history which Moses was then compiling, and which is now called the Pentateuch.—P.
x Nu. 24.20. De. 25.17-19. 1 Sa. 15.2, 3; 14.48; 27.8. 2 Sa. 1.1. 1 Ch. 4.43.
16 For he said, Because3 the LORD hath sworn,4 that the LORD z will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
3 Or, Because the hand of Amalek is against the throne of the Lord; therefore the Lord, &c.
4 Heb. the hand upon the throne of the Lord.
z ver. 14. Is. 3.11; 14.20,21. Ps. 21.9-11. 2 Th. 1.8,9. ch. 20.5. Mal. 1.4.
Notes
Ver. 2. The Israelites abused Moses with provoking and reproachful language.—Men tempt the Lord, (1) By sinning wilfully, and thus putting him to the trial, whether he be omniscient, just, powerful, &c., Ac. 5.3. (2) By unnecessary rushing on visible dangers without any lawful call, Mat. 4.6, 7. (3) By a presumptuous demanding of miracles, to try whether God can work them, Mat. 16.1; Lu. 11.16. (4) By presumptuously prescribing to him when and how he should accomplish his promises or threatenings as the token of his presence with them, Ps. 78.41.
Ver. 5. The elders of the people were to witness Moses' bringing forth water from the rock, and to report it to the people.
Ver. 6. God stood above the rock in the pillar of cloud, the token of his presence, to show that it was his powerful influence, not Moses' stroke, that brought forth the water.—This rock, it is reported, remains visible to this day as a kind of large stone, with twelve or twenty-four openings, in the valley of Rephidim.
Ver. 8. Whether these Amalekites were in league with the Egyptians, or were Canaanites or Edomites, or whether they attacked them merely for the sake of the riches they had brought out of Egypt, we know not.
Ver. 9. Moses stood on the top of the hill, in view of the Israelites, with his wonder-working rod lifted up as their banner, and as a token of the Lord's presence with and assistance of them.
Ver. 11. This different success, answerable to Moses' elevation of his hands and rod, marked the power and efficacy of prayer; and that they could do nothing but as God encouraged and strengthened them.
Ver. 12. This marked the human weakness of Moses; and that Christ, by his presence and Spirit, must help our infirmities in prayer.
Ver. 14. Joshua was to hear it, as he and his successors, who commanded the armies of Israel, were to watch every opportunity of destroying the Amalekites.—[From under heaven. This is one of those judgments of God against a nation, which infidels have most frequently assailed, as indicative of implacability, and therefore, as they assert, unworthy of God. The answer is plain. (1) If God be holy, he must be implacable against sin; and if against sin, he must also be implacable against impenitent sinners. (2) It is to be presumed that every shepherd holds it right to be implacable against the wolf—the cruel and insatiable destroyer of his defenceless flock. Such was the crime of Amalek, De. 25.17. Cruel and cowardly, he attacked the defenceless rear of the Israelites' line, when 'feeble, faint, and weary.' (3) Has any philanthropist denounced the punishment of pirates, robbers, and murderers? Have the merchants of the Mediterranean wept over the fall of Algiers, or the travellers of India protested against the extirpation of the Thugs? No. How then dare infidels accuse God for a sentence which all men pronounce righteous, when they judge in another case? Out of their own mouths, and on their own principles, will they be condemned, and God will be 'justified when he speaks, and clear when he judges,' Ps. 51.4. (4) Besides, the remembrance of Amalek, which God determined utterly to put out, implied, not the extirpation of individual, but of national life, an occurrence of which history affords many striking examples. Do men ever, in such cases, accuse Providence for what is actually done? No. How then dare they accuse God for denouncing the same judgment he intended to inflict? C.]
Ver. 15. The design of this altar was to commemorate the victory divinely bestowed, and to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving thereupon.
Reflections.—The straits of the people of God frequently recur upon them; and how commonly do they afford occasion for repeated unbelief, and a sinful rage of spirit, under them, while the greatest kindnesses are forgotten or ill-requited. Humble prayer is most effectual to compose the spirit under such injurious treatment. Did we then but recollect the circumstances of our sins, it would tend rather to our humiliation; and did we but wait with humble patience, we should soon discover that God can open the most abundant supplies in our greatest distresses. How heartily wicked men hate the saints, and take all opportunities to distress them! But terrible is the justice that awaits them on account of it. The prayers of the saints and the word of JEHOVAH are sure to bring victory. Let me then never murmur against, never distrust, my God of infinite power and grace! Let me, in every case, cry to him who can turn flinty rocks into water springs! If I receive mercies amidst my provocations, I may expect new trials. But let me depend upon God in all my warfare, and praise him for all my victories.—But in this smitten rock I behold Jesus, the firm, the unchangeable God and Mediator of his people, who, for our danger of hell and despair, appeared in our nature!—Jesus, the stone smitten by Moses' fiery law before the rulers and people of Israel, that streams of atoning blood and sanctifying virtue might issue forth and run in this wilderness of our world, for the purification and refreshment of sinful men. In this warfare I behold Jesus, MY ALL IN ALL, as the Captain of salvation directing the Lord's host.—Jesus, the rod, the branch, lifted up as an ensign to the Gentiles!—Jesus, as my unwearied intercessor at the right hand of the Majesty on high!—Jesus, through whom I am more than a conqueror; and who hath sworn that he will have war with the enemies of his people, from generation to generation, till they be utterly defeated.