Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 95:1-11, Romans 5:1-11, John 4:5-42.
A). A PLACE OF NO WATER.
Exodus 17:1-7.
Moses must have been pretty near the end of his tether (Exodus 17:4). After all, the LORD had already heard the cries of His people in their bondage (Exodus 3:7), and sent Moses to them: but it had been all Moses could do to convince them to accept deliverance. Things got worse before they got better, and the people had had a good old moan about that, too (Exodus 5:20-21).
Now the ten plagues, the first Passover, the deliverance out of Egypt, and the parting of the Red Sea all lay behind them. The people had complained of the bitter waters at Marah, Moses had cried to the LORD, and the LORD had provided a miracle (Exodus 15:22-24). Then once again the people had given voice to their discontentment, and had grumbled at their leaders (Exodus 16:2), and through them at their God (Exodus 16:8): yet the LORD is merciful, and provided bread in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4).
It was happening again. The people were effectively putting Moses on trial at a place of no water (Exodus 17:1), demanding that he give them something to drink. Moses’ response was that they were also putting the LORD to the test (Exodus 17:2) - the same LORD who had been testing them (cf. Psalm 81:7).
Whilst we can sympathise with their plight, is it not the case with us also that we so easily forget past mercies? Why did you bring us out to die of thirst in the wilderness, they asked (Exodus 17:3)? In our impertinence, we also forget past mercies and present help, and speak out of turn.
Moses had had enough, and turned to the LORD to make his own complaint. What am I to do with this people? They seem set to stone me (Exodus 17:4)!
It is good that leaders, even when the going gets tough - or perhaps ESPECIALLY when the going gets tough - know to turn to the LORD. There is no point getting into fruitless discussions with disillusioned people. Leaders need to recharge their own spiritual batteries at source, and seek the answers from the One with whom they will be found.
They may well find, like Moses, that the answer is already to hand (Exodus 17:5). Take your rod - the one which you once held out and the Red Sea parted, and which you held out again and the Red Sea engulfed the Egyptians - take witnesses, and do as the LORD bids. Use what you have: the tried and proved instruments and methodologies of your ministry.
In the path of obedience, the answer came. The LORD stood upon a Rock, Moses smote the Rock and water gushed out (Exodus 17:6). The Apostle Paul tells us that ‘that Rock was Christ’ (1 Corinthians 10:4), and that that same spiritual Rock followed them in all their wilderness journeys. Jesus says, ‘If any man thirsts, let him come to me, and drink…’ (John 7:37-38).
It is in the seeming ‘smitten-ness’ (Isaiah 53:4) of Jesus that we find our salvation. Out of His smitten side ‘came there out (both) blood and water’ (John 19:34). The water that Jesus gives us becomes in us ‘a well of water springing up into eternal life’ (John 4:14).
It only remains in our text for Moses to rename the place where this incident happened. The two names that he chose speak of the people’s quarrelsomeness, and of their tempting the LORD (Exodus 17:7).
‘Today if you will hear His voice,
Harden not your heart,
As in the provocation,
As in the day of temptation in the wilderness…’
(Psalm 95:7-8; cf. Hebrews 3:7-8).
B). SINGING PRAISE, AND LISTENING TO THE WORD.
Psalm 95:1-11.
In days gone by not everybody who gathered in our churches could read, so it was useful to learn things by rote. So when the praise-leader sang “O Come let us sing unto the LORD” (Psalm 95:1), the congregation knew to join in the singing of Psalm 95. Depending on which tradition they were in, they would know the Psalm by the words, or the tune perhaps, or by its place within the service.
Psalm 95 begins with a reciprocal invitation to praise (Psalm 95:1). Yet praise must have focus. This is not just a chance for ‘a good-old sing-song’ - you can get that down the pub. This is serious worship, with its focus upon who the LORD is (the Rock), and who He is to us (the rock of our salvation).
We should be aware - even in ‘the praise part of our service’ - that we are coming into the presence of the true and living God. We draw near with the familiarity of “thanksgiving” and of “making a joyful noise” (Psalm 95:2), ‘boldly approaching the throne of grace’ (Hebrews 4:16). But we also come with a sense of awe at the presence of the LORD, the great God, the King over all (Psalm 95:3).
We celebrate Him as the One who sustains all things (Psalm 95:4). We acknowledge Him as Creator (Psalm 95:5). We worship, we bow down, we kneel in the presence of the LORD our Maker (Psalm 95:6).
Such awe is appropriate in those who have the LORD as “our God” (Psalm 95:7). We are “the people of his pasture, and the sheep of His hand” (Psalm 95:7).
Praise gives way to Word: a word of exhortation, and a word of warning. ‘Anyone who has ears should listen’ (cf. Matthew 13:9). “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart…” (Psalm 95:7-8).
We are taken back in time to an incident (Exodus 17:1-7), not long after the LORD had led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 13:3). The Red Sea had miraculously parted, and the first generation of formerly enslaved people had walked across dry-shod. Miriam’s song (Exodus 15:21) was still fresh in the memories of the people.
The people put the LORD to the test in the wilderness (Psalm 95:8-9). They chided with Moses, and he accused them of tempting the LORD (Exodus 17:2). After all the miracles of Egypt, the people questioned: ‘Is the LORD among us or not?’ (Exodus 17:7). How soon we forget past mercies!
It was at this point that “the Rock” (Psalm 95:1) was introduced (Exodus 17:6): ‘and that Rock was Christ’ (1 Corinthians 10:4). There came a breaking point in the relationship between the LORD and His people, and a whole generation were doomed to wander in the wilderness for forty years (Psalm 95:10), and failed to enter the promised land (Psalm 95:11). These things are written for our admonition, the Apostle Paul tells us: ‘therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall’ (1 Corinthians 10:11-12).
The dating of this Psalm is open to several possibilities. Its teaching section (Psalm 95:8-11) looks back to the days of Moses, but it is part of what the Spirit is saying to the churches, even today (Revelation 2:29). Whoever wrote it, its application is to the present: it belongs to Today, whenever Today may be.
“Today” could be some 40 years after the events described, when Moses addressed the second generation of wilderness wanderers (Deuteronomy 32-33). Or “Today” could be the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, whether the first or the second. “Today” could be when a certain writer took up the same words and expounded them to some Hebrew Christians on his friends list, applying them to their New Testament situation (Hebrews 3-4).
It was “Today” when the English reformers embedded this Psalm in the liturgy: ‘to be sung daily throughout the year’ at the commencement of morning prayer. “Today” is the Today when I write this, the Today when I speak it; the Today when you read this, or hear it. “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart…” (Psalm 95:7-8).
‘Exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin’ (Hebrews 3:13).
C). GOD SHOWS HIS LOVE.
Romans 5:1-11.
Romans 5:8 - “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Those who believe in Jesus and put their trust in Him are made right with God. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, and they are forensically proclaimed “just” before God. They are treated just as if they had never sinned, and just as if they had never offended the Almighty.
They have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
They have the hope of heaven within their souls (Romans 5:2).
This hope does not disappoint them because God the Holy Spirit pours the love of God into their hearts (Romans 5:5).
There is a great outpouring of love from God to man in the self-sacrifice of Jesus (Romans 5:8).
This is the whole basis of the Christian’s faith and hope.
1. OUR NEED (Romans 5:6).
Mankind stands in great need. From the very beginning of the world we have rebelled against God.
Collectively, the more we try to put things right, the worse mess we make of this beautiful world that God has created.
Individually, we find that we cannot know true peace of mind in our daily lives.
Spiritually, we are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
We cannot change the world. We cannot change ourselves. What is to be done?
It is here that God breaks into history: “While we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
2. GOD’S PERFECT TIME (Romans 5:6).
The whole of history pivots on the single event of the death of Jesus. All previous sacrifices point to this one great, ultimate, full, final sacrifice.
(a) The Old Testament looks forward to it: -
God made a sacrifice in the Garden of Eden in order to provide skins to cover the shame and nakedness of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman (Genesis 3:21).
Abraham expressed his faith by saying to his son, “God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” God prevented Abraham from sacrificing his son, and showed him a ram caught in a thicket which he offered instead of his son (Genesis 22:8; Genesis 22:13).
[Many centuries later, John the Baptist pointed to Jesus, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). God did not hold back from sacrificing His Son.]
Human sacrifice was forbidden in the Law of Moses the man of God, but there was an extensive sacrificial system centred on the tabernacle of the wandering children of Israel, and the Temple in Jerusalem. This all pointed forward to the final sacrifice of God’s Son.
[The Temple ceased to have any purpose after the death of Jesus, and it was destroyed not many years afterwards.]
The Old Testament prophets had much to say about the One who would come, speaking of His death in quite some detail (for example in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53). These details were often quoted by New Testament writers.
(b) The New Testament looks back on the death of Jesus: -
We are told in the most famous verse of the whole Bible that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16).
This is echoed in our passage. “But God” demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6).
It is God’s love that provided His own Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus overcame the power of death on our behalf by rising from the dead. Now those who believe in Him are accepted into God’s heavenly family (Galatians 4:4-5; John 1:12; 1 John 3:1).
3. RECONCILIATION (Romans 5:9-10).
In the death of Jesus, God’s anger at sin was turned away from the sinner and directed at the divine substitute. The sinless Christ became sin for us, and was sacrificed on our behalf.
God cannot look upon sin. So in the most awful moment in the history of the world, God could no longer look upon His own Son! There was an anguished cry of dereliction from the Cross (Matthew 27:46).
When Jesus died, He cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30). At that very moment, His sacrifice was accepted. Then when He rose from the dead He was seen to have overcome death (the consequence of sin) on our behalf.
4. REJOICING (Romans 5:11).
As we reflect upon the love of God displayed in the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, there is much cause for rejoicing. When we trust in Him our sins are forgiven, we are received as God’s sons, and we inherit heaven.
Individually, we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son, and are received into His family.
Spiritually, we find peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Collectively, we are trained in the ways of God, which are the ways of love.
The Apostle John uses the love of God as the basis for the Christians’ love for one another (1 John 4:7-12).
God has shown His love. We must respond in love to Him, and towards each other.
D). A WOMAN OF SAMARIA.
John 4:5-42.
Coming to a city of Samaria, Jesus arrived at a parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jesus being wearied, He sat upon the well for rest and refreshment. The one who is truly God is thus seen to have taken upon Himself all the limitations of a true humanity. He was capable of hunger and tiredness, pain and death, for it was to bear our infirmities that he had come into the world.
A woman came to the well alone, “at about the sixth hour” (John 4:6). Perhaps her style of life met with the disapproval of her neighbours, and she felt compelled to collect her water at a time separate from the other women. Whatever the reason, she was to have a one-to-one encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ which would change her life, and that of her community, for ever.
Jesus' disciples had gone to the city to buy food (John 4:8), and Jesus was resting by the well, perhaps redeeming the time by praying for the people who lived there and for this lone woman who now came into His sight. It is always good to keep our minds occupied with prayer and praise and pious thought when our hands otherwise have no work to do.
By His appearance, the woman could tell that this stranger was not one of her people, the Samaritans, so imagine her surprise when suddenly He spoke to her (John 4:7)! After all, the Jews had no dealings with their neighbours in Samaria, nor men with women. Thankfully all these dividing walls of ethnicity and gender are broken down in the Church of our Lord: ‘for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3:28).
(i) Jesus said to the woman: “Give me a drink” (John 4:7).
Considering who Jesus is, it is incredible that He should ask us for anything. Yet here He asks the woman for a drink.
But the woman instead entered into theological debate with Jesus. How easily we are distracted from the business of being right with God, confusing religious debate with what God is saying to us.
(ii) The woman asked Jesus, “How is it you ask me?” (John 4:9).
(iii) Jesus answered, “If you only knew who I am, you would have asked me for living water, and I would have given it” (John 4:10).
It is Jesus who offers the gift of eternal life, what He here calls the “living water.”
(iv) The woman asked, “How can you? Are you greater than Jacob?” (John 4:11-12).
(v) Jesus answered, “Whoever drinks this water will thirst again. Whoever drinks the water that I shall give him shall have eternal life” (John 4:13-14).
(vi) The woman’s response was, “Sir, give me this water” (John 4:15).
The woman is beginning to believe, but is still thinking in human terms. But the gospel is not just about the earthly benefits we may hope to receive, but about eternal and heavenly things.
(vii) Jesus told the woman, “Call your husband” (John 4:16).
(viii) The woman answered, “I have no husband” (John 4:17).
(ix) Jesus’ response was, “I know!” (John 4:17-18).
It is well that we realise that God knows all things. We cannot hide our deepest darkest secrets from Him.
(x) At this point, the woman acknowledged that Jesus must at least be a prophet (John 4:19). But He is much more than that!
(xi) She asked about the place to worship God, which was an area of contention between the Jews and Samaritans (John 4:20).
(xii) Whilst not allowing her error about the place of worship, for the Jews were in the right (John 4:21-22), the Lord explained the spiritual nature of true worship (John 4:23-24).
(xiii) The woman professed to be awaiting the enlightening of “the Messiah” (John 4:25).
There is a time for waiting, but now He has come.
(xiv) So Jesus plainly told her, “I that speak unto thee am He” (John 4:26).
Whilst the disciples were amazed to find Jesus in conversation with a Samaritan woman, she “left her water jar and went into the city” (John 4:27-28).
Perhaps in the excitement of discovering who the Lord is, the woman forgot why she had gone to the well. Or perhaps she left the water jar, realising that nobody had drawn any water for the Lord yet. Whatever the reason, she was able to race back to the city with her exciting news.
What had struck the woman about Jesus was that He knew everything she ever did (John 4:29). She had come to realise that He was quite likely more than a prophet: could He be the Christ? She had no husband to discuss these things with, so she went and proclaimed the good news to the people of her city. Her message was simple, as had been Philip’s to Nathanael (cf. John 1:46): - “Come and see,” to which she added, “Is not this the Christ” (John 4:29).
The Samaritans heard what the woman had to say about Jesus, but wanted to encounter Him for themselves (John 4:30).
“In the mean while His disciples prayed Him, saying ‘Master, eat” (John 4:31). So, while the woman was full of the joys of her new found faith, the disciples, with the best of intentions, were preoccupied with matters of the flesh.
Jesus, too, was spiritually engrossed in His mission, and replied, “I have meat to eat that you know not of” (John 4:32). Ministry provides its own nourishment when we are busy about the Lord’s business in doing good to never-dying souls.
The disciples had not reached this stage as yet, and wondered if anyone had brought Jesus food? So Jesus clarified the matter: “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish the work” (John 4:33-34). Such is the love of God toward lost sinners that He counts it His meat to do what He must in order to make possible their salvation.
Jesus quoted a proverb about the harvest. Looking up from the well, Jesus pointed the disciples to a rare sight. Distinguished by their white turbans, He could see many Samaritans approaching. “Lift up your eyes,” said Jesus. “See how the fields are already white for harvest” (John 4:35).
“The fields” are the fields of the world, to which the Lord would soon be sending His disciples. Samaria was just one field, but the scope of His mission is ‘Jerusalem, all Judaea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth’ (cf. Acts 1:8).
Continuing His reference to the harvest, Jesus indicated how the reaper “gathers fruit unto life eternal.” There is joy amongst all who have been involved in the great harvest work of the gospel when the harvest of souls is finally gathered in, and so “that saying is true, One soweth, and another reapeth” (John 4:36-37).
“I sent you to reap that whereon ye have bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours” (John 4:38). In other words, the disciples were going to reap what the Old Testament prophets and John the Baptist had sowed. The prophets had declared that the Messiah was coming, whereas the disciples were to declare Him as come.
“And many of the Samaritans believed” on account of the witness of the woman who so enthusiastically ran to the city and called them to Him. The Samaritans asked Jesus to stay, and for two days He remained, teaching them the way of salvation. “And many more believed because of His own word” (John 4:39-41).
The woman did well. We too must realise who Jesus is, submit to Him, and proclaim Him to others.
We must not merely be satisfied with the testimony of others, but must test out these things for ourselves. Then we will discover that Jesus is indeed “the Saviour of the world” (John 4:42).
Then we will be enabled to worship Him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) as He promised the woman of Samaria.
