February 22, 2026 - The Passion of Christ at Rephidim (Exodus 17:1-7)

The Passion of Christ at Rephidim (Exodus 17:1-7)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?” 3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” 

Introduction

In Persia, there is a famous fable that I read and as you know in Persia, they are a majority Muslim nation. And the story goes, there was an egg that was floating down the river and someone tried to scoop up the egg but the man fell into the river. But this man fell into this river, he could not swim and he started praying to his god, Allah. The man pleaded with Allah that if Allah saves him, he will never eat an egg again. In the midst of his plea with his god, a huge branch came his way and he was saved by holding onto it and getting out of water. After being saved, this man told his god that he was only referring to raw eggs. This means that this man changed his mind after being saved. The moral of this story shows the insincere and conditional faith that we possess. When other people see this type of faith in us, then other people will ridicule our faith. This is because we don’t possess the correct answers. Today’s sermon is very important. 

1. The Conflict and the Test

(1) Conflict with Moses

Verses 1-2 - The Israelites finally departed the Wilderness of Sin and in this Wilderness of Sin, they were able to eat manna and quail. During their journey outside of the Wilderness of Sin, God continued to provide them with manna and quail. Not only that but God is leading them with the pillar of cloud and fire. This Biblical passage shows that the Israelites arrived in a region called Rephidim. Many theologians are saying that this region was an oasis and even though they arrived in an oasis, there was no drinkable water. The Israelites were so thirsty that they started complaining to God and Moses. 

Verse 2 - If you look at this scripture, it says that the Israelites are contending with Moses. This means that the Israelites were quarreling with Moses. This was very interesting. The Israelites were able to witness the Red Sea splitting after they came out of Egypt. This should show that God truly loved and protected the Israelites by allowing them to cross the Red Sea. Not only that but God also provided them with drinkable water by allowing Moses to hit a rock and water pouring out of it. And also God provided them with manna and quail from heaven above along with the pillar of cloud and fire. The Israelites should witness and experience God being with them. They should not doubt God at all but now, the Israelites started complaining to God again. This was because they didn’t have any drinkable water to drink. Even though we may experience God at times, we still have doubts and unbelief. Is this possible? But people do this. God is alive and they know that God is alive but they still complain and grumble because of their greed. Why is that? There is something that we must hold onto. We still possess our nature of sin in Genesis 3. As we live our walk of faith, if we don’t resolve this, then we will have problems for the rest of our lives. Why did the Israelites still possess this unbelief and problems? God provided many answers and miracles to the Israelites in the wilderness but the Israelites never gave true thanksgiving to God. When a problem arose, they didn’t know how to pray to God even though God provided them with miracles and answers. When we live our walk of faith, if we don’t have thanksgiving and prayer then our walk of faith will go in a strange and difficult direction. We should possess thanksgiving and grace but we don’t know what God’s grace is and we take God’s grace as something that is guaranteed. That is why the Israelites started complaining and asking why God bought them out of Egypt and saying that God was not taking any responsibility over them. They are challenging and ignoring God. This shows that we only care about ourselves and not about God. If we have thanksgiving with God and restore prayer, then we can have victory. If we don’t have thanksgiving and don’t have prayer, then this is very severe. We need to change this in our life and our walk of faith. 

(2) The Lord's Test

Verses 3-4 - That is why Moses was asking the Israelites why they were testing and tempting the Lord? Even though they knew that God was alive, they were still challenging and testing God. God had guided them until now and acted as their protector so Moses was telling them that they should have faith in God. In other words, Moses was telling them that they should wait in faith instead of trying to quarrel with him and testing God. What did the Israelites choose from this? The Israelites were only thinking about themselves and their lives instead of trying to trust in God. They were only thinking about their inheritance, children, and their livestock. The Israelites were testing God and saying that they will believe when God answers them. What do you choose when you face a problem? God has absolute plans when He gives you a problem so do you trust in God and continue in prayer? Or, do you demand God to give you answers instead of waiting? 

What happens when you don’t wait and just demand answers? It is shown in verse 4 - The Israelites became so impatient that they were waiting to stone Moses to death. If God is alive, the Israelites were demanding God to answer them right away. But if God does not answer them, then they are saying that they will stop believing in God. Also in our church and within ourselves, we can see ourselves what happened in the introduction. Just like in the introduction you want God to provide you immediate relief and answers to your problems. A lot of the younger generation are leaving church and not believing in God all around the water. Many people who leave church, they all blame the church and church members. But that is not the real reason. The younger generation are bound by their selfishness, money, and greed. In other words, they are bound by Genesis 3, 6, and 11. This is a world problem. All of the younger generation are bound by post-modernism mentality. The world tells you that you are the most important, not God. They are imprinting the new age mentality into them that you are the most important. Then, what is the true answer here? 

2. The Ministry of Christ

(1) God's Plan

Verse 4 - Moses resided in the Lord God and asked God what to do. 

God gave Moses an amazing answer in verse 5 - Moses was reporting to God what was going on and God didn’t say anything but just commanded Moses to go to the river. In this urgent matter, God commanded Moses to do something very specific. God commanded Moses to go before the people, these people who were ready to stone Moses. This means that these people are not the people who Moses needs to serve but need to save. God was telling Moses that they needed an answer. They really need not just water right now but beyond that. God commanded Moses to go to the river with the elders. The elders were the leaders of the Israelites. None of the elders were able to give an answer to the Israelites as well. God commanded Moses to take the elders so they can witness what God is about to do and report it back to the Israelites. God commanded Moses to take the rod as well and this rod represented the power that God showed in Egypt. God was going to bring judgment to the Israelites to what the Israelites did to God. God commanded Moses to strike a rock on the mount of Horeb with the rod. God said that He will be standing in front of Moses on the rock on the mount of Horeb. What does this rock represent? 

(2) The Rock of Rephidim

1 Corinthians 10:4 “And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” - This rock was Jesus Christ. In order to show Jesus Christ, God brought them to this rock. God said that He will stand on this rock and commanded Moses to strike this rock. The rock represents Jesus Christ and God commanded Moses to strike the rock represents what Jesus Christ will do for us. Jesus Christ will suffer for us and die on the cross for us. This symbolizes that Jesus Christ will be struck for our sins. 

Isaiah 53:4 “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.” - Jesus Christ was stricken for our sins. Jesus bore all of our sins and died on the cross. For all our fundamental and generational sins, Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. God was showing Jesus Christ on the mount of Horeb. The Israelites were trying to kill Moses and tried to stone him. This shows the Jews who were trying to kill Jesus Christ and how they ended up killing Jesus Christ on the cross. The Israelites kept testing God and the Jews also kept testing Jesus to see if He really was God or not. The Jews kept criticizing Jesus and said that if He really is God then demanded Jesus to bring Himself down on the cross. The Jews were full of sin and they couldn’t solve the problem of sin on their own. God who knew this had Jesus Christ die on the cross on their behalf. The rock being struck represented Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins. After the rock was struck with the rod, water started spilling out from the rock. There was enough water from this rock to feed all of the Israelites in the wilderness. 

John 7:37 “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” - Whoever believes in Jesus, even if you are sinner, come before Him and drink this water. This shows the unimaginable love of God. 

Massah means to test and Meribah means to quarrel. We are always testing God and quarreling with Him. But the rock was struck and we can become a new creation. This shows the work of recreation. When we accept Jesus Christ, then we can become a new creation. In order to explain this, God brought the Israelites to the region of Rephidim. God was trying to tell them that all they have to do is hold onto Him and alone. Whatever problem comes before us, it is not a problem. If we hold onto Christ, then we have a new life. 

3. The Prepared People

(1) You will receive the priest's blessings

Numbers 17:8 “Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.” - Those who hold onto the covenant of the blood covenant, then the blessing of resurrection will come to you. If you have the blessing of resurrection, then the blessing of priesthood will come to you. 

(2) You will receive the prophet's blessings

Exodus 15:20 “Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. ” - We said that Miriam was a prophetess and she was a leader. Those who testify of the gospel, you are a leader. We have received the blessing of being a prophet of relaying and testifying of the gospel. 

(3) You will receive the king's blessings

Exodus 7:1 “So the Lord said to Moses: ‘See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.’ ” - Those who serve the Lord, you have received the blessing of the heavenly throne. Those who enjoy the blessing of the heavenly throne, then you are enjoying the blessings of the kings. When we serve God as our Lord then we have received the blessings of kings. 

Conclusion

Acts 11:26 “And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” - Christians means that we are Christ-like. This means that we have received the blessing of the priest, prophet, and king. Wherever we go, may we shine this light and enjoy these blessings. May we receive these blessings in the name of Jesus Christ.