What can satisfy the thirsting of a human soul? Exodus 17 begins not just with soul thirstiness, but with physical thirstiness. The children of Israel had departed Egypt and were journeying through the wilderness, as the Lord had been leading them. Along the journey, there were already plenty of things they were not pleased with, that made them uncomfortable. They previously traveled for three days in the Desert of Shur, not finding any water until they came to Marah, the place of bitter water. So they grumbled and God solved the problem, making the water fit to drink (Exodus 15:22-27). Then they came to the Desert of Sin (what a name, huh) and grumbled against Moses and Aaron because they didn't have the same quality of food as free people in the desert that they had while they were slaves in Egypt. So God provided manna from Heaven for them as well as quail during the evening (Exodus 16). Then we go to Exodus 17 where, once again, the people had no water to drink as they traveled from the Wilderness of Sin to Rephidim. "This wilderness was probably the narrow plain of el-Markha, which stretches along the eastern shore of the Red Sea for several miles toward the promontory of Ras Mohammed, the southern extremity of the Sinai Peninsula" (Wilderness of Sin). It would have been about eight days of travel in stages from the Wilderness of Sin to Rephidim.
By the time the people got to Rephidim, Moses felt as if the people were ready to stone him because of the poor shape they were in. We might be tempted to pile on the Israelites here, but put yourself in their shoes. They didn't have shoes, but let's pretend they did since I already typed the word and don't feel like changing the phrase to make it historically accurate. You've been walking for days in a desert. You're free, yes, but this is the first time you've ever been free. You were slaves before, but you had everything you needed even though your quality of life in other ways was terrible. You've been on this cycle of desperate need, miraculous provision, desperate need, miraculous provision. Intellectually, it may be easy to think, "Well, God is just going to provide again because he has already shown us that he will so many times already in a short time frame." But humans aren't Vulcans. For all of you reading this who aren't Star Trek fans, that means we tend to wholeheartedly embrace emotion alongside logic as part of the human experience rather than trying to suppress emotion, thinking that logic is superior like the Vulcans. It's not like the whole nation of people had collective short-term memory loss and couldn't recall what God had already done for them. But that was then. This is now. "What if...?" Who among us hasn't had those "what if...?" thoughts before. "What if, this time, it's different? What if, this time, God doesn't come through? What if...?" So Moses went before the LORD, who told him to strike a particular rock. When Moses did, water came out of the rock for people to drink. Thus, the place was called Massah (Testing) and Meribah (Quarreling) because the Israelites quarreled with Moses and tested the LORD there (Exodus 17:1-7).
At this point, there is a division in Exodus 17. We go from the LORD providing water from a rock to the Amalekites attacking the Israelites. "The Amalekites were descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau. They were a fierce nomadic tribe that lived in the desert region of the Dead Sea. They made part of their livelihood by conducting frequent raids on other settlements and carrying off plundered goods" (Life Application Study Bible). For another Star Trek reference, they sound like the Ferengi to me. "A Ferengi's entire existence revolved around the acquisition of wealth, even above family and friends, according to their sacred Rules of Acquisition" (Ferengi). "One of the greatest insults in Israelite culture was to call someone 'a friend of Amalek.' When the Israelites entered the region, the Amalekites saw this as a perfect opportunity for profit. But this hostile tribe was moving in on the wrong group--a people led by God. For Israelite slaves to defeat such a warlike nation was more than enough proof that God was with them as he had promised to be" (Life Application Study Bible). Joshua selected some of the Israelite men and went to war against the Amalekites while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. When Moses held his hands up, the Israelites gained the advantage. When he lowered his hands, the Amalekites gained the advantage. As Moses got tired, they gave him a stone to sit on while Aaron and Hur held his hands up until the Israelites finally overcame the Amalekite army. Such an event might sound silly to some modern readers, but this literally happened as written. It was a testimony to the Israelites, and to today's reader, that the Israelites gained the victory, not because of their superior skill or might--they had neither. What it demonstrates is what God is able to accomplish through anyone that makes themselves available through faith and obedience.
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