In the midst of this uninspiring travelogue, we have a lesson on faith. I have read this paragraph many times and usually found my eyes glazing over and my mind falling to sleep. We should fight against this tendency whenever we read God’s Word, because every part of it has a purpose, and if we are open to it there may be a lesson that jumps out to surprise us. Anyway, sprinkled into this record of Israel’s wilderness wanderings, we have hints of military history and faith.
The chapter begins with the well-known account of the poisonous serpents and the serpent replica on a pole. That is a great object lesson on faith, and particularly on faith connected to salvation. “And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he behold the serpent of brass, he lived.” And then “the children of Israel set forward, and pitched (their tents) in Oboth,” before moving and moving again.
In verse 14 we are informed of a book which is not a part of the scriptures: “The book of the wars of the Lord.” That chronicle no longer exists, except perhaps in the Library of Heaven. Since we don’t have copies, it is only speculation that it was written by Moses and finished by Joshua. Some scholars think it began with Abraham’s battle with the kings of the east, but no one knows for sure. Some think it included the war against the Moabites, led by the Amorite King Sihon, since that seems to be the context of this paragraph. Moses appears to have brought up this book as corroboration for the establishment of “Beer.” (That’s not the creation of beer, but the establishment a place called “Beer.”) The Hebrew word for “well” is “beer,” and it is relatively common in one form or other. For example, famous “Beersheba” means “the well of Sheba.” That was the place where God miraculously supplied water for Hagar and her son Ishmael – Genesis 21.
Now notice verse 16 here in our chapter – “And from thence they went to BEER: that is the WELL (“BEER”) whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O WELL (“BEER”); sing ye unto it: The princes digged the WELL (“BEER”), the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah…”
Obviously, we don’t have much information about this event, so we must depend on our sanctified imaginations just a little bit to make a scriptural application. I picture Israel coming to a wadi or arroyo hoping to find a brook full of water, but alas, it was dry. Thankfully we don’t read of any open rebellion in this case; the nation has seen God supply water before. There seems to have been a tiny residue of faith in the people. I picture the nation gathering on both sides of the dry creek bed, with thousands of eyes looking down into it. At the command of Moses, the leaders – the princes of the nation – met him, forming a circle in the draw. Perhaps, Moses turned to the nation and told them to sing. Then again, perhaps this singing was spontaneous. Perhaps Moses or perhaps someone else said, “Sing ye unto it.” Sing unto what? The future well. “Spring up, O well, Spring up.” Maybe Miriam was playing her harp or perhaps the Levites were blowing a short tune on their trumpets. Or more likely, it was acapella. “Spring up, O well.” At that point the princes were told to poke their staves – symbols of their tribal leadership – into the sand. Again, I admit to using my imagination in some of this. As the princes poked and prodded the dry creek bed, soon there was a gurgling sound before the men had to jump back out of the way of a flowing stream of water. “Spring up, O well, Spring up.” And it did.
Is this just an interesting bit of ancient Hebrew history? Well, it is that, but there is more for us to learn than just a history footnote. Whether Israel got the message or not, I hope that we can. There is a message of faith and praise in this singular event.
First, let’s consider the LORD in this.
The hearts of Israel were usually filled with fear when it came to the Lord, but it was fear mixed with a bit of faith God was not only leading them through the desert with His pillar of cloud and fire, He was judging them. When they came out of Egypt, they were promised the rose gardens of the Promised Land, but they turned down God’s offer, and one-by-one they were dying in the wilderness. But the Lord was also feeding the nation and meeting their needs on a day-by-day basis. They needed food, and God was giving them manna; and they needed water which God also supplied.
Now, here in the desert “the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.” There were no forked water witches or diving rods being used to miraculously find water. There were probably no hydrologists in the crowd telling everyone, “This is the bed of a brook, so there is a good chance that water is lurking under ground.” All that Israel had was the word of the Lord. Has it come to that? Only the promise of God? Brethren, they had the promise of God. They could take that to the bank – they could take it to the banks along either side of that dry arroyo. Most likely, Joshua, from the tribe of Ephriam, and Caleb, from Judah, probed the ground with the expectation of water. They were men of faith. But we don’t know about the confidence of the other tribal princes.
Would you have been a Caleb or one of the others? Water? We haven’t seen water in days. It doesn’t look like this wadi has been filled with water at any time this year. Will there be water? A few of those men said “yes,” and they told their families and tribes to sing their song with all their hearts. Would you have said, “Let’s dig, because God has said there is water under these rocks? Or would you have said, “What’s the use. Just look around. There is nothing but cacti and sand?”
I’m going to stick my neck out just a bit and say that God had earlier prepared that water. He promised – and He prepared. I’m going to repeat what the Israelite hydrologists might have said, “There is an aquifer under this sand.” Certainly the Almighty could have created cold clear water out of cold dry sand; I won’t deny His ability. But it is just as likely that He used plain old semi-ordinary means to meet the needs of the nation. And yet… still… it was miraculous.
So Jehovah prepared the water and perhaps it had been flowing under the sand at that spot for years. And He also specifically promised, “I will give them water.” He promised, prepared and propelled – or guided – Israel to this particular spot. He knows what our needs are before we know what they are. And the Lord often has everything in place to meet our needs.
But the PEOPLE had a role to play in the slaking of their thirst.
Two million people might have stood around that spot, with 12 or 24 or a hundred princes in a circle. Those leaders could have been holding hands, praying for water for days, and never wet their tongues. When God says, “Go,” it isn’t time to be praying, “Lord, should I go?” When God says, “Trust me,” that is not time to pray, “Lord, can I trust you?” The Lord may tell us, “I’m going to give you this blessing or that blessing,” but if He also said “poke this sand,” and we don’t poke, we aren’t going to receive that blessing.
We may be praying for the Lord to fill this auditorium with people. Yes, let’s pray. But if we aren’t poking and prodding our neighbors and community into joining us here, we don’t have any right to expect to see this place filled. Yes, we are praying for the salvation of souls, but until we are evangelizing those souls, and becoming a part of God’s providential plan leading up to their faith in Christ, it is not likely to happen. “Lord, feed my family.” He will feed your family if you stop expecting manna to show up in your back yard, and you go out and get a job like the Word of God tells us. God promised that He’d give Israel some water, but He required that leadership poke the sand.
In the mean time, the rest of Israel was learning to sing a new song. “Spring up, O well.” Did God order the people to sing? It could be, but since we aren’t told, I’m not sure. Did Jehovah raise up a David to write out the words and create a new tune? Not that I can see. This may have been spontaneous. It sprang from thirsty, excited hearts. Maybe a few people started waving their arms and encouraging everyone to join in. Was it like some modern day sporting match – except 20 times larger? Someone started chanting, and it spread – “Go, go, Go, GO.” “Spring up, O well. “Spring up, O well, Spring up. Spring up, Spring up, Spring up.” I can see the people getting themselves excited with a new musical chorus.
But there was also an element of praise and expectation. “Spring up, O well,” and “sing ye UNTO it.” Here is where I don’t know if Moses or the Lord ordained this song. I don’t know if this was a command. Whoever said “sing ye unto it,” could have added, “Hey everyone, let’s trust the Lord to give us a well.” They were being encouraged to sing to something which didn’t yet exist – a well of water in a dry arroyo.
Between the first and second halves of the last clause of verse 17, we see the difference between most people’s prayers and the true prayer of faith. There is a difference between praying, “O, God we need food,” and “Thank you, Lord, for the food you are going to give us.” There is a difference between – “Lord, graciously save the soul of my brother,” and “Thank you, Lord, for what you are going to do for my brother.” There are rivers of blessings right under our feet, but they are accessible only through a combination of faith, praise and poking the ground.
How many of the thousands of Israel were murmuring against God for another disappointingly dry day? It is safe to say that not one murmur could have met the thirst of the nation. One of the lessons we see throughout Israel’s history is that murmuring only makes the Lord angry. Murmuring, muttering, and moaning before God brought judgment upon those people, and why should we think the Lord would be pleased when we copy them? “O, my life is so miserable Lord, why don’t you fix it?” That is not a prayer which pleases God. But – “Lord, I know that all things work together for good, and if not today, then soon, you are going to remove all these fleshly thorns” – there is a prayer which pleases God.
There is nothing that pleases the Lord so much as praise – especially EXPECTANT praise. There is no test of faith so helpful and positive as the expression of thanksgiving, when there doesn’t appear to be any call for that thanksgiving. As a general rule, Christians today aren’t praising God enough. We aren’t sufficiently thanking Him for His past and recent gifts. And we certainly aren’t very expert in thanking God for what He hasn’t yet done.
Jehovah has promised – and provided – “the Water of Life.” God’s saints have been born from above and filled with His Holy Spirit. Like Israel in the wilderness, that water of life is available to us throughout our lives, wherever we travel. The Lord Jesus said in John 7 – “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Salvation from sin is just the beginning of God’s blessings. Let’s learn to thank Him for the water which He has promised, but not yet delivered. Let us thank the Lord, praise the Lord and keep poking the dry barren, but God-blessed, ground.