Exodus 17 (KJV With Strong's) - Bible Truth Library

the rock.This rock, which is a vast block of red granite, 15 feet long, 10 broad, and 12 high, lies in the wilderness of Rephidim, to the west of Mount Horeb, a part of Sinai.

There are abundant traces of this wonderful miracle remaining at this day.

This rock has been visited, drawn, and described by Dr. Shaw and others; and holes and channels appear in the stone, which could only have been formed by the bursting out and running of water.in Horeb.

Ex. 3:1‑5• ¹Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
²And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
³And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
⁴And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
⁵And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. (Ex. 3:1‑5)

and thou.

Num. 20:9‑11• ⁹And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
¹⁰And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
¹¹And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. (Num. 20:9‑11)

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Deut. 8:15• ¹⁵Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; (Deut. 8:15)

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Neh. 9:15• ¹⁵And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them. (Neh. 9:15)

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Psa. 78:15‑16,20• ¹⁵He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
¹⁶He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
²⁰Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? (Psa. 78:15‑16,20)

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Psa. 105:41• ⁴¹He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. (Psa. 105:41)

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Psa. 114:8• ⁸Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters. (Psa. 114:8)

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Isa. 48:21• ²¹And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. (Isa. 48:21)

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1 Cor. 10:4• ⁴And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Cor. 10:4)

that the people.

Psa. 46:4• ⁴There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. (Psa. 46:4)

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Isa. 41:17‑18• ¹⁷When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
¹⁸I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. (Isa. 41:17‑18)

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Isa. 43:19‑20• ¹⁹Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
²⁰The beast of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. (Isa. 43:19‑20)

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John 4:10,14• ¹⁰Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
¹⁴But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:10,14)

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John 7:37‑38• ³⁷In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
³⁸He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:37‑38)

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Rev. 22:17• ¹⁷And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Rev. 22:17)

• Then comes the Spirit-living waters which come out of the rock. (“Exodus 16-17” by J.N. Darby)

• Even as the manna, the rock also speaks of Christ. Paul thus says, “They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). But the Rock was smitten before the waters flowed. (“Rephidim and Amalek: Exodus 17” by E. Dennett)

• There is nothing that can satisfy the undying needs of man but the Holy Spirit as the power of life—everlasting life; and this blessing can only be received through a crucified and risen Christ. Hence He cried to the Jews, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink” (John 7:37). And the proclamation still goes forth, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). (“Rephidim and Amalek: Exodus 17” by E. Dennett)

• The rod has been explained to mean a symbol of God’s power, and in smiting it will therefore set forth the exercise of His judicial power. We behold then, in this smiting of the rock, the stroke of His judgment falling upon Christ on the cross. The smitten rock is a crucified Christ. It was the people’s sin, remark, that led to the smiting of the rock—a striking exemplification of the truth that “He was wounded for our trangressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.” (“Rephidim and Amalek: Exodus 17” by E. Dennett)

• The Rock was smitten, and “the waters gushed out” (Psa. 78:20). Not before—this was impossible; for because of sin God was, as it were, restrained. His mercies and compassions, His grace and His love, were pent up within Himself. But immediately that atonement was accomplished, whereby the claims of His holiness were forever satisfied, the floodgates of His heart were opened to pour forth streams of grace and life throughout the world. (“Rephidim and Amalek: Exodus 17” by E. Dennett)

• (John 4:14). In John 7 He uses the same figure, and John adds, “This spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). Two things are indeed clear from this passage—first, that the “living water” is a type of the Holy Spirit; and secondly, that this “living water,” the Holy Spirit, could not be received until Jesus was glorified. In other words, the Rock must first be smitten, as already seen, before the waters could flow out to quench the thirst of men. (“Rephidim and Amalek: Exodus 17” by E. Dennett)

J. N. Darby Translation

Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock on Horeb; and thou shalt strike the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel.

W. Kelly Translation

WK Verse Note

(Note: Words in italics have been inserted from the J. N. Darby translation where the W. Kelly translation doesn’t exist.)