Texts for this week: Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 95 and Romans 5:1-11
In the Old Testament reading from Exodus 17:1-17, the Israelites in the wilderness are thirsty. They are so thirsty that they badger Moses and complain that God is not providing water for them. In the previous Chapter 16, the nation of Israel complained about a lack of food. God responded by providing them with manna and quail. Instead of focusing on the goodness of God and what He provided so far in the wilderness, the people focused on their misery, their thirst, not trusting that God could or would help them. As only God can, water comes from a rock to satisfy their thirst.
The people complain and God provides. Why didn’t they trust God to provide before complaining about what they lacked? After all, God divided the Red Sea so the Israelites could flee Egypt for the Promised Land. And God provided manna for the people to eat. Now there is water from a rock. The people did not trust God in spite of what He had done for them. That is the nature of sin. We forget what has happened in the past and think that somehow God has failed us.
The second text, Psalm 95, is a song of praise; but it is also a reminder that we are not to harden our hearts as the people of Israel did in the wilderness. The psalm refers to Moses and God providing water from a rock as noted in Exodus. The people forgot what God had done for them. They hardened their hearts; they sinned against God.
In Old Testament times, the only way to atone for sin was to make a sacrifice to God. Animals took on the sins of humans and were sacrificed at the temple. It was a constant cycle – sin and sacrifice. But Christ’s sacrifice on the cross changed that. One sacrifice for all of mankind. No need to repeat it – it was done. The sinless Jesus Christ took on all sin so humanity would have salvation and eternal life. The faithful have mercy, grace, salvation and eternal life because Christ died for our sins.
In the New Testament reading, Romans 5:1-11, the apostle Paul addresses suffering and what it may produce in believers: “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
When a person has faith in Jesus Christ and receives forgiveness and salvation for sin, he enters into a spiritual relationship with God that lasts forever. It is a relationship built on love – God’s love for us and our love for God. Because of that relationship, we have a secure future – one built on God’s promises that cannot be revoked. We are sinners and need God’s promise of salvation for believers. Just as He was present at the rock with Moses, God is present today in the lives of believers when we put our faith and trust in Him.
“… if one has faith, all other things gush forth from it” – Martin Luther
Marsha Schroeder
Church Elder