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The Beginning of the End
reminded daily of God’s unfailing care and tender love. God gave
them “of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels’ food” (
Psalm 78:24,
25
)—that is, food provided for them by the angels. They were taught
each day that they were as secure from being deprived as if they
were surrounded by fields of waving grain on the fertile plains of
Canaan.
The manna was a symbol of Him who came from God to give
life to the world. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers
ate manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which
comes down from heaven. ... If anyone eats of this bread, he will
live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall
give for the life of the world” (
John 6:48-51
).
After leaving the Wilderness of Sin, the Israelites set up camp in
Rephidim. Here there was no water, and again they distrusted the
providence of God. The people came to Moses with the demand,
“Give us water, that we may drink.” They shouted in anger, “Why is
it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children
and our livestock with thirst?” When they had been so abundantly
supplied with food, they remembered with shame their unbelief and
promised to trust the Lord in the future, but they failed at the first
test of their faith. The pillar of cloud that was leading them seemed
to conceal a frightening mystery. And Moses—who was he? What
could be his purpose in bringing them from Egypt? Suspicion and
distrust filled their hearts, and in the storm of rage they were about
to stone him.
Water From a Rock
In distress Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with
this people?” He was directed to take the elders of Israel and the rod
with which he had worked wonders in Egypt, and to go on ahead of
the people. And the Lord said to him, “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.” He obeyed, and
the waters gushed out in a living stream that abundantly supplied the
entire camp. In His mercy, the Lord made the rod His instrument to
bring about their deliverance.