Rephidim\u2014Exo_17:1-7<\/p>\n
Nothing particular is recorded of the onward march of the Israelites till they reached a place called Rephidim which appears to be just one day\u2019s journey short of their destination\u2014which was the base of the central mountains of Sinai. Their entrance into this mountain wilderness is generally supposed to have been through the Wady Feiran\u2014a broad valley which is overspread with vegetation and tamarisk trees, or occupied with gardens and date plantations. It is now much frequented by the Bedouins for pasturage. Rephidim is supposed to have been at the extremity of this valley, which has now assumed the name of esh-Sheikh, where it enters by a narrow gorge into the high granite cliffs of the central region. We may suppose, then, that it was somewhere in this vicinity that the Israelites encamped at Rephidim. Here they again wanted water; their murmurings were now more violent, and their conduct more outrageous, than at Marah. We had then some sympathy for them, and were inclined to plead some extenuating circumstances in their behalf. But we have not a word to say for them now. Their behavior is most flagrant; and the harshest judgment cannot estimate their offence too severely. They had lately seen their wants relieved in a similar emergency; and at this very time they were receiving, day by day, from heaven their daily bread. Yet so strangely unreasonable was their spirit, that they reproached Moses for having brought them out of Egypt, to kill them and their children and their cattle with thirst; and their violence of manner was such as led Moses to cry unto the Lord, saying, \u201cWhat shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.\u201d Alas! and it had come to this already. Thus already\u2014in one little month\u2014were the ransomed people prepared to deal with their deliverer, all whose toil and thought was spent for their advantage. Thus soon did they justify the prescient reluctance with which he had abandoned for these responsibilities the safe and quiet life he loved so well. It seems to have been in order that Moses might not be plunged in deeper discouragement, that the Lord forbore to declare his own displeasure. He simply indicated the mode in which he meant to provide for their wants. There was something remarkable in this. The people were to remain in the camp. But Moses himself, attended by the elders of Israel, and having in his hand the rod with which he had smitten the Nile to change its sweet waters into blood, was to proceed onward to Horeb. There he was to smite a rock, from which a copious stream of waters should flow out, to furnish the people with drink.<\/p>\n
It is usually, but erroneously, supposed that the miracle was wrought at, or close by, the encampment. But if this had been the case, the Israelites, in their parched condition, would doubtless have gladly accompanied their leader on his mission. The account of the selection of the elders, and their going to Horeb, implies that there was some considerable distance to go. This is also implied in the words that follow: \u201cAnd Moses did so in the eyes of the elders of Israel\u201d\u2014clearly in their eyes only, as witnesses, and not in those of the people also\u2014as would have been the case had the place been near. If the camp at Rephidim were at the spot indicated, it was a good day\u2019s journey from Sinai, and so situated that a stream of water flowing from Horeb would run directly to it. The waters of the rock thus smitten, flowing in a downward stream through the valleys, is doubtless that alluded to in other passages by which this interpretation is corroborated. So, in a later day, when Moses says: \u201cI took your sin\u2014the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it very small, even till it was as small as dust, and I wet the dust thereof with the brook that descended out of the mount.\u201d The water may have flowed to the Israelites when encamped at Rephidim, at the distance of miles from the rock, as the winter torrents do now through the valleys of Arabia-Petrea. The language of the psalmist would also lead us to conclude that this was actually the case: \u201cHe clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.\u201d \u201cThe rock, too,\u201d as Dr. Wilson thinks, \u201cmay have been smitten at such a height, and at a place bearing such relation to the Sinaitic valleys, as to furnish in this way supplies of water to those Israelites during the first of their journeyings \u2018from Horeb by way of Mount Seir, unto Kadesh-barnea.\u2019 Deu_1:2. On this supposition new light is thrown upon the figurative language of the apostle, when he speaks of the \u2018rock following\u2019 the Israelites\u2014meaning the stream from the rock. On this supposition, also, we see why the rook should have been smitten to yield a large supply to flow to a distance, even though springs and rills may have been pre-existent in Sinai.\u201d Note: Lands of the Bible, i. 233-235.]<\/p>\n
It must be admitted that, bearing these considerations in view, the remarkable rock in Sinai, which tradition regards as the one which Moses smote, is at least well chosen in regard to its situation\u2014whatever opinion we may form of the truth of that tradition, which it seems to be the disposition of late travelers to regard with more respect than was formerly entertained. It is an isolated mass of granite, nearly twenty-feet square and high, with its base concealed in the earth\u2014we are left to conjecture to what depth. In the face of the rock are a number of horizontal fissures, at unequal distances from each other; some near the top, and others at a little distance from the surface of the ground. An American traveler says: \u201cThe color and whole appearance of the rock are such that, if seen elsewhere, and disconnected from all traditions, no one would hesitate to believe that they had been produced by water flowing from these fissures. I think it would be extremely difficult to form these fissures or produce these appearances by art. It is not less difficult to believe that a natural fountain should flow at the height of a dozen feet out of the face of an isolated rock. Believing, as I do, that the water was brought out of a rock belonging to this mountain, I can see nothing incredible in the opinion that this is the identical rock, and that these fissures and the other appearances should be regarded as evidences of the fact.\u201d Note: Dr. Olin, Travels in the East, i. 417.]<\/p>\n
A still later American traveler Note: Dr. Durbin, Observations on the East, i. 149.] declares that he visited the spot with the settled conviction that \u201cthe legend with regard to the rock was but a fable,\u201d and that the fissures had been wrought by art to give it an apparent sanction. But he confesses, notwithstanding his skepticism on this point, \u201cThis stone made more impression upon me than any natural object claiming to attest a miracle ever did.\u201d He adds: \u201cHad any enlightened geologist, utterly ignorant of the miracle of Moses, passed up this ravine, and seen the rock as it now is, he would have declared\u2014though the position of the stone, and the present condition of the country around should have opposed any such impression\u2014that strong and long-continued fountains of water had once poured their gargling currents from it and over it. He could not waver in his belief for a moment, so natural and so perfect are the indications. I examined it thoroughly; and if it be a forgery, I am satisfied, for my own part, that a greater than Michael Angelo designed and executed it. I cannot differ from Shaw\u2019s opinion, that \u2018Neither art nor chance could by any means be concerned in the contrivance of these holes, which formed so many fountains.\u2019 The more I gazed upon the irregular mouth-like chasms in the rock, the more I found my skepticism shaken; and at last, I could not help asking myself, whether it was not a very natural solution of the matter, that this was indeed the rock which Moses struck, that from it the waters \u2018gushed forth,\u2019 and poured their streams down Wady Leja to Wady esh-Sheikh, and along it to Rephidim, where Israel was encamped, perishing with thirst?\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether or not this were the particular rock which sent forth its streams when smitten by the rod of Moses\u2014which, after all, it is of little importance for us to know\u2014there can be little doubt that, from the nature of the case, it was somewhere in this upper region, to which Israel afterwards made a day\u2019s journey, and where they remained encamped for nearly a year. Had not this been the case, another miracle would have been required to furnish water for the camp in Sinai; but the fountain being placed at the head of the valley in Horeb, it formed a source of supply to the people during the whole of their stay in the vicinity, if not after they had taken their departure.<\/p>\n
Autor: JOHN KITTO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rephidim\u2014Exo_17:1-7 Nothing particular is recorded of the onward march of the Israelites till they reached a place called Rephidim which appears to be just one day\u2019s journey short of their destination\u2014which was the base of the central mountains of Sinai. Their entrance into this mountain wilderness is generally supposed to have been through the Wady … Continue reading ““133. REPHIDIM\u2014EXODUS 17:1-7””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16485\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}