Some time after these events, they encamped in another part of the desert, where again there was no water. Here also they murmured against Moses, and with great anger upbraided him for having brought them out of Egypt. Then Moses reproved them for their want of confidence in God; and, addressing the Lord in prayer, he said: “What shall I do with this people? Yet a little more, and they will stone me.” The Lord commanded him to strike a rock[1] on the side of Mount Horeb with his rod. Moses did so, and a stream of pure water burst forth from the rock, so that all the people and the cattle could quench their thirst at will.
At this time the Amalekites[2] marched against the chosen people. Moses sent Josue with a number of picked men against them. During the battle Moses prayed on the top of the hill. As long as his hands were uplifted[3], the Israelites remained victorious; but when, through fatigue, he let them sink, they lost. Hence Aaron and Hur[4] upheld his hands, until the enemy was put to flight.
While Moses and the Israelites were near the mountain of God (Horeb), Jethro, having heard all the wonderful things, came with the wife and the two sons of Moses (Gersam and Eliezer) to pay a visit to Moses. He offered holocausts and sacrifices to God in thanksgiving and counselled Moses to institute seventy ancients as judges to help him in judging the people. (Ex. 18.)
COMMENTARY.
The wood thrown into the bitter well by God’s command possessed no natural properties, by which to make the water sweet; therefore the miracle worked was simply the effect of God’s almighty power. In the same way, the stroke dealt by Moses’ rod did not of itself bring water from the rock: it was the omnipotence of God, which caused that abundant spring to pour from the dry stone. To show that the power came from Him, the Lord God, present in the pillar of cloud,
- ↑ Strike a rock. Which He would show to him, saying: “I will stand there before thee on the rock Horeb” (Ex. 17, 6).
- ↑ The Amalekites. They were descendants of Esau, and a wild, marauding, pagan people, who lived in the country between Chanaan and the Red Sea, in the peninsula of Sinai. They desired to hinder the Israelites on their way to the Promised Land, and, as far as they could, to destroy all worshippers of the true God.
- ↑ Uplifted. In intercessory prayer.
- ↑ Hur. A leading representative of the tribe of Juda.
