CHAPTER 17 Feb.9 
Water from the Rock
All the congregation of the children of Israel travelled from the wilderness of Sin, by their journeys, according to Yahweh’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2Therefore the people quarrelled with Moses, and said, Give us water to drink. Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh? 3The people were thirsty for water there; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst? 4Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me. 5Yahweh said to Moses, Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink. Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarrelled, and because they put Yahweh to the test, saying, Is Yahweh among us, or not?
The Battle with Amalek
8Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9Moses said to Joshua, Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand. 10So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11It happened, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset. 13Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14Yahweh said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky. 15Moses built an altar, and called its name Yahweh our Banner. 16He said, Yah has sworn: ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation’.

Commentary

17:6 The rock that was struck represented Christ (1 Cor. 10:4)- water came out of His side when He was ‘struck’ in crucifixion. Paul says that the rock followed them- in the sense that the water from the smitten rock followed them as a gushing river. This speaks of the constant refreshment and life available from Christ in our wilderness journeys. Yet despite the wonder of that provision, the people still murmured, made a golden calf, wanted to return to Egypt- they failed to perceive the wonder of God’s constant presence, just as we can.
17:11 Uplifted hands represent intense prayer (Lam. 2:19; 2 Chron. 6:12,13; Ezra 9:5; Ps. 28:2; 141:2; 1 Tim. 2:8). The Bible is always teaching us the power of just one person- when Moses didn’t pray so fervently, Israelite lives were lost. Others’ wellbeing and final victory partially depends upon our prayer for them, hence Paul’s example of and exhortation to pray for others continually.
17:12 Moses with his arms held above his head with men both side of him until the sun went down invites comparison with Christ on the cross, where He intensely prayed for the final victory of us God’s people.