“Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?” Exodus 17:6-7
So often the names that are given to places in the Old Testament have to do with the events that have taken place. For example, Jacob named the place where He wrestled with God Penuel, which means face of God. He called it that because that was the place he seen God face to face. In our text we see that the place where the water flowed from the rock was called Massah and Meribah because the children of Israel complained against God. The place could have been given a name that means, where the water flowed, or, where the children believed God, but it was named after their unbelief. What kind of name are you leaving?
