Water - The Saving Element

because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

 - Exodus 17

In the past five years, I have had two experiences with dehydration. Once when I had gotten out on a sunny morning and began working, with only a couple cups of coffee in me. The other was a cool crisp fall morning, during a jog. The effects of dehydration are devastating, and subtle. It creeps up on your, and you think there is something else wrong. Water is so important to us.

The fundamental element in our salvation, is water. We are comprised of, oh I don't know, mostly water, I believe.

Moses' staff was used, perhaps most frequently, in the command of the element, water. Now . . . I have heard that the practice of  locating wells, using an ordinary stick, actually works. You know, the wives tale of some old codger taking a piece of branch from a tree, holding it a certain way, and he could actually locate an underground source of water. Now I don't know if that's true or not, although Jim Kaercher assures me there's something to it.

But I find it interesting that Moses used a piece of wood, and could command water. In the end it's God's authority making it all happen, but He often gives us tools. Our faith activates the power of God, but the tool remains. And so the Hebrews, when they had been out in the wilderness for a period of time, began to demand water. And the whole point was: if God can just get us some water, we'll know that He is on our side.

And that's it. Now . . . I don't know why we want to emphasize the whining, and complaining, of God's people . . . unless it's to give us something to relate to! Because we all have done that!! Just give us some water!! And if God can do that, out in some desert, then for now anyway, we'll continue to believe in God.

So Moses puts his staff to work, taps it on some rock, and out came water. And we see that water is not only God's saving element, but it is also a sign of His authority.

Water plays a part in the litany of God's power, in som many of the Psalms. In 78, verse 16: 16:

He brought streams out of the cliff, 
and the waters gushed out like rivers.

So the Old Testament sets up the case for water. Water from dryness. Water when we are the most desperate. Water as proof that God is on our side, and that He is in control.