From: Exodus 17:3-17
The Water From the Rock
[3] But the people thirsted there for water and the people murmured against
Moses, and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our
children and our cattle with thirst?" [4] So Moses cried to the Lord, "What
shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me." [5] And the
Lord said to Moses, "Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the
elders of Israel; and take in your hand the rod with which you struck the
Nile, and go. [6] Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at
Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that
the people may drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of
Israel. [7] And he called the name of the place Massah' and Meribah, because
of the faultfinding of the children of Israel, and because they put the Lord
to the proof by saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"
Commentary:
17:1-7. The severity of desert life (notably hunger and thirst) leads God to
help the Israelites in various ways, all of them full of theological
implications. The miracle of the manna, which was preceded by that of the
water which Moses made drinkable (15:22-25), is followed by a new work of
wonder to do with water: Moses causes water to flow from a rock. This
happened at Rephidim, probably what is now Wadi Refayid, some 13 km (8
miles) from Djébel Müsa.
The sons of Israel's faith in God and Moses has been strengthening little by
little; but they often doubt whether God is there at all (v. 7). They begin
to murmur and to seek proofs of his presence: have they been brought out of
Egypt to die, or to attain salvation? The water which Moses causes to come
out of the rock is a further sign to bolster their faith. This episode names
two places--Meribah, which in popular etymology means "contention",
"dispute", "lawsuit", and Massah, which is "proof', "test", "temptation".
Many biblical passages recall this sin (cf. Deut 6:16; 9:22-24; 33:8; Ps
95:8-9), even adding that Moses himself lacked faith and struck the rock
twice (cf. Num 20:1-13; Deut 32:51; Ps 106:32). Lack of trust in the
goodness and power of God means tempting God and it is a grave sin against
faith--even more so in the case o Moses, who had experienced God's special
love and who ought to have given good example. When man meets some
contradiction or some difficulty he cannot immediately solve, his faith may
waver but he should never doubt because "if deliberately cultivated, doubt
can lead to spiritual blindness" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 2008).
There is a rabbinical tradition which says that the rock stayed with the
Israelites throughout their sojourn in the desert; St Paul refers to this
legend when he says "the Rock was Christ" (1 Cor 10:4). On the basis of
biblical references to the wondrous nature of waters (cf. Ps 78:15-16;
105:4; Wis 11:4-14) the Fathers said this episode prefigures the wonderful
effects of Baptism: "See the mystery: 'Moses' is the Prophet; the rod is the
word of God; the priest touches the rock with the word of God, and water
flows, and the people of God drink" (St Ambrose, "De Sacramentis", 8,5, 1,3).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.