Water and Hands of Faith
Background and printed text: Exodus 17
Exodus 17:1 And all the Witness of the children of Israel journeyed from the Thorn Desert to their journeys according-to the mouth of Yehovah. And they camped in Spreads. And there is no water to ‘water’ the people. 2And the people fought with Draw [Moshe]. And they said, “Give-ye water to us! And we have drunk!” And Draw [Moshe] said to them, “What? Ye will fight with me? What? Will ye tempt Yehovah?” 3And the people thirsted there for water. And the people lodged upon Draw [Moshe]. And he said, “Why is this? Thou ‘ascended’ us from Egypt to kill me and my children and my cattle via thirst!”
4And Draw [Moshe] screamed unto Yehovah to say, “What shall I do to this people? A little further, and he will stone me!” 5And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Cross-over to the faces of the people. And take from the elders of Israel with thee. And take thy rod via thy hand that thou smote the canal via him. And thou shalt walk! 6And behold, I am standing to thy faces there upon the rock in Dry. And thou shalt smite into the rock. And waters shall exit from him. And the people shall drink.” And Draw [Moshe] did, established, to the eyes of the elders of Israel.
7And he called the name of the place Temptation and Her-Fighter concerning the fight of the children of Israel and concerning their tempting Yehovah to say, “Is there a Yehovah via our approach, if there isn’t?”
8And Lick-Lapped-People [Amalek] came. And he warred with Israel in Spreads. 9And Draw [Moshe] said unto Yehovah-Is-Salvation [Joshua], “Choose men to us! And exit-thou. War via Lick-Lapped-People [Amalek] tomorrow. I am positioning upon the head of the hill. And the rod of the Gods is in my hand!” 10And Yehovah-Is-Salvation [Joshua] did just-as Draw [Moshe] said to him to war via Lick-Lapped-People [Amalek].
And Draw [Moshe], Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] and Cave [Hur] ascended the head of the hill. 11And he was, just-as Draw [Moshe] will elevate his hand, and Israel will prevail! And just-as he will rest his hand, and Lick-Lapped-People [Amalek] will prevail!
12And the hands of Draw [Moshe] are heavy! And they took a stone. And they put under him. And he sat upon her. And Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] and Cave [Hur] supported via his hands, from this: one, and from this: one. And his hands were faith unto [until] the sun came! 13And Yehovah-Is-Salvation [Joshua] disabled Lick-Lapped-People [Amalek] and his people to the mouth of a sword.
14And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Write this remembrance in a scroll, and put into ears of Yehovah-Is-Salvation [Joshua]. For blotting, I will blot the remembrance of Lick-Lapped-People [Amalek] from under the heavens!”
15And Draw [Moshe] built an altar. And he called his name, Yehovah My-Ensign. 16And he said, “For a hand is according-to an estimate of Yah! War is to Yehovah via Lick-Lapped-People [Amalek] from generation to generation!”
I. A Fight with Moshe (verses 1-3)
The group of the children of Israel (being one witness) journeyed from Thorn Desert to the rest of their journeys as Yehovah gave instruction. They camped in a place called Spreads. This place had no water to ‘water’ (give drink to) the people.
The people of Israel became angry and fought with Moshe. They said, “Give-ye water to us! And we have drunk!” Moshe responded, “What? Ye will fight with me?” Moshe couldn’t supply them with water, and fighting with him didn’t make sense. He also said, “What? Will ye tempt Yehovah?”
The people of Israel thirsted there for water. And the entire group lodged upon Moshe, coming closer to violence. The people said (as if one person), “Why is this? Thou ‘ascended’ us from Egypt to kill me and my children and my cattle via thirst!”
Questions
1. What does “according to the mouth of Yehovah” mean?
2. Why did Yehovah lead the Israelis to a place in which there was no water?
3. Why did the people fight with Moshe since Yehovah was the One Who led them to the place with no water?
4. What does tempting Yehovah involve, and what is wrong with this?
5. Verse 3 states, “And he said, ‘Why is this? Thou “ascended” us from Egypt to kill me and my children and my cattle via thirst!’” Who is he in, “And he said”?
6. Since the entire group spoke as one person, were the Israelis unselfishly demanding that Moshe and Aharon do something about the lack of water?
7. When the people stated, “Thou ‘ascended’ us from Egypt to kill me and my children and my cattle via thirst,” he (the people) did a great wrong that often ruins relationships. What did he do?
II. The Command to Smite the Rock (verses 4-6)
Moshe screamed unto Yehovah, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little further, and he will stone me!”
Yehovah told Moshe what to do: “Cross-over to the faces of the people. And take from the elders of Israel with thee, and thy rod that thou smote the canal via him. Take via thy hand. And thou shalt walk! And behold, I am standing to thy faces there upon the rock in Dry. And thou shalt smite into the rock. And waters shall exit from him. And the people shall drink.”
Moshe did what Yehovah said to the eyes of the elders of Israel.
Questions
1. What did Moshe mean by, “What shall I do to this people?”
2. What does stoning involve?
3. Yehovah told Moshe to cross over “to the faces of” the people. If the Israelis are angry enough to stone him, how could he do this without them attacking him while he walked?
4. Why would the elders of Israel go along with Moshe?
5. Why was taking the rod so important, and why did Moshe have to take the rod via his hand, as if there were some other way to take the rod?
6. Why did Moshe have to walk?
7. Who is speaking and saying, “And behold, I am standing to thy faces there upon the rock in Dry”?
8. What is the benefit of smiting into the rock?
9. How can an ordinary rod break a rock?
10. How can enough water come out of a rock to water that many humans and their cattle?
11. The text continues, “And waters shall exit from him.” Who is him?
12. What is this rock?
13. If the answer to the previous question is true, what was this water?
14. What benefit will the people of Israel gain from drinking this water from this rock?
15. What did Moshe do to the eyes of the elders of Israel?
16. Why is Yehovah’s standing on that rock so important?
17. Did the Israelis understand the importance of these things?
18. Will the Israelis later understand these things?
III. Tempting Yehovah (verse 7)
Moshe called the name of that place Temptation and Her-Fighter because of the fight of the children of Israel, and because they tempted Yehovah by saying, “Is there a Yehovah via our approach, if there isn’t?”
Questions
1. Why did Moshe call the name of the place Temptation?
2. Why did Moshe call the name of the place Her-Fighter? Who is Her?
3. Why did Moshe name the place?
4. What were they asking when they said, “Is there a Yehovah via our approach, if there isn’t?”
IV. War with Amelek (verses 8-10)
A group called Amalek came to do battle with the Israelis. And Amalek warred with Israel in the place called Spreads. Moshe knew one of the Israelis whose name was Joshua (Yehovah is Salvation) and who was either a military fighter or was willing to become one. Moshe told him, “Choose men to us! And exit-thou. War via Lick-Lapped-People [Amalek] tomorrow. I am positioning upon the head of the hill. And the rod of the Gods is in my hand!” Joshua did exactly what Moshe said, and went to war with Amalek.
Questions
1. What does Lick-Lapped mean?
2. Why did Amalek war with Israel? Was Israel threatening Amalek?
3. What was Spreads?
4. Why did Moshe tell Joshua to choose men and to go to war?
5. Why didn’t Moshe go to war with Joshua?
6. Why did Moshe tell Joshua that the rod of the Gods is in his hand? Why was that important?
7. Again, why is it called the rod of the Gods (plural)?
8. What did Joshua do that was so significant (in verse 10)?
9. Should one always obey a spiritual leader?
V. Prevailing Hand (verses 10-11)
Moshe, Aharon, and another man named Hur ascended the head of the hill to watch the battle. Whenever Moshe will elevate his hand, Israel will be winning the war (will prevail), and whenever Moshe will rest his hand, Amalek will prevail!
Questions
1. Why did the three men ascend the head of the hill?
2. Who is Hur?
3. Did Moshe elevate only his hand?
4. What caused Israel to prevail (to be winning) when Moshe raised his hand?
5. Why did Moshe rest his hand if Amalek prevailed when he did this?
6. Was the rod magic?
7. What, then, or who, then, gave Israel success when Moshe’s hand was elevated?
VI. Hands are Faith (verses 12-13)
Moshe’s hands are heavy. Thus, the two men, Aharon and Hur, took a stone and put it under Moshe. Moshe sat on the stone. Aharon and Hur supported the rod by means of Moshe’s hands, one on one side and the other on the other side. Moshe’s hands were Faith until the setting of the sun!
Joshua disabled Amalek and his people “to the mouth of a sword.”
Questions
1. Why are the hands of Moshe heavy?
2. Who are they who took a stone?
3. How big was this stone?
4. What does “And Aharon and Hur supported via his hands, from this: one, and from this: one” mean?
5. According to the text, what gave Israel the power to prevail when Moshe’s hand was elevated?
6. How long were Moshe’s hands faith?
7. What does “to the mouth of the sword” mean?
8. What did Joshua do that disabled Amalek?
VII. Blotting the Remembrance of Amelek (verse 14)
Yehovah told Moshe, “Write this remembrance in a scroll, and put into ears of Joshua. For blotting, I will blot the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens!”
Questions
1. What remembrance did Yehovah tell Moshe to write?
2. Why does this need to be written in a scroll?
3. Why must it be “put into ears of Joshua”?
4. What will Yehovah do to Amalek?
5. Has Yehovah already done this?
6. When will Yehovah do this?
7. What does blot mean?
8. Now, since Yehovah recorded about Amalek in the Torah (Teaching) given to Israel, and since Yehovah will write that entire Torah on the heart (mind) of every Israeli throughout the Millennium, how can Yehovah blot the remembrance of Amalek as long as the Torah keeps reminding folks of Amalek?
9. Why did Yehovah so hate Amalek, that He determined to do this blotting when there have been other races who were worse than Amalek toward the Israelis?
VIII. The Hand and Yah’s Estimation (verses 15-16)
Moshe built an altar, and he named the altar Yehovah My Ensign. He then stated, “For a hand is according-to an estimate of Yah!” Moshe added, “War is to Yehovah via Amalek from generation to generation!”
Questions
1. Why did Moshe build an altar at this time?
2. What is an ensign?
3. Why did Moshe name the altar Yehovah My Ensign? Is naming an altar Yehovah right to do?
4. What does Moshe mean by a hand in, “For a hand is according to an estimate of Yah”?
5. Who is Yah?
6. What does “War is to Yehovah via Amalek from generation to generation” mean?