So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
Exodus 17: 2-4 (New International Version)
God’s intent is to use the harsh conditions of the wilderness to prove his faithfulness.
If these faith lessons take hold, then the people will be molded into a people of trust,
prepared to enter the land promised to their ancestors. Do you see that? The Land Between and its hardships are meant to get them ready
for the Promised Land. The question being asked of them through these trials is
“Who is the source of life? Upon whom will you depend for water, food, survival.”
The Land Between, Jeff Manion, (p.45)
Life isn’t something that is achieved;
It is something that can only be received.
When God Interrupts, Craig Barnes, (p. 145)