God of the impossible

Numbers 33:12-14 (KJV)
And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. [13] And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. [14] And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.

Israel moves from the hunger to thirst. Rephidim was not like Marah. At least in Marah there was a pool of water. If in Rephidim there was a pool of bitter water again, Israel could have had asked Moses to throw in a log like last time that the water may become sweet. Israel perhaps at least had the faith to believe that God could do same miracle twice. But this time there was not even a pool of bitter water to work with. Rephidim was a complete desert. No pools, no springs, and not even a puddle. It was dead. There was no water there whatsoever. But we remember how God commanded Moses to strike a rock, and water gushed out from the rock:
Exodus 17:5-6 (KJV)
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. [6] 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.

This event is a picture of our salvation which is in Jesus Christ. Our salvation was not an augmentation to that which already existed. Our salvation was not an improvement over that which was a somewhat acceptable. Marah was bitter water, but at least it was there. Rephidim was something completely impossible. Israel could have said about Marah, "The log may have had some sort of herbal effect to purify the water" and excused the power of God. But they could say no such thing about the the waters of Rephidim. It came out of a rock in the desert. There was no water inside. God had to make something out of nothing. God had to make this Rock to bleed water.

Likewise God did not work with what was there to save us. There was nothing but junk in us. We were sinners beyond repair and beyond reform. We had no other way of salvation but that we die with Christ, and be born again by the Spirit of God. We had to be made a new creation. Just as God made the world out of nothing, and just as God made water to come out of a dead rock, God had to create a completely a new thing in us. This is why David says:
Psalm 51:10 (KJV)
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
He doesn't say, 'Make my heart that I have now into a clean one', but he says, "CREATE in me a clean heart". He has abandoned all hope in himself. His heart had become so corrupted in sin and broken into pieces by guilt that it wasn't able to be restored. God had to give him a completely new heart. Likewise God had to take out and throw away our old heart, to give us a wholly new heart:
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (KJV)
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

The water that came from the Rock also represents how Christ shed His blood for us. The bible says the Rock represents Christ:
1 Corinthians 10:4 (KJV)
And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
Just as impossible it was for the Rock to give water, it was equally impossible that the Son of God would shed His blood for us. This spiritual Being, the Word of God who made the world, the Son of the invisible God, became one of His own creation, was made unto the likeness of sinful man, and shed His blood for our sins. His blood is our spiritual drink:
John 6:53-56 (KJV)
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. [54] Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. [55] For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. [56] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

There is no other spiritual drink for us but Christ's blood. There could have been no salvation except that the Son of God shed His blood for us. There could have been no forgiveness of sins without shedding of Jesus Christ's blood. Many people have died and have shed their blood, but none of them could forgive another man's sins. Many bulls and goats have died, but they could not deliver any soul from eternity in hell. What was the only payment that was equivalent to an eternity in hell? It was the shedding of blood of the Creator Himself. Jesus Christ made payment by His blood to the Father, the equivalent to our being punished for an eternity in hell. How was that equivalent? Christ was from heaven. He was from the heavens above heavens. Clouds of heaven were like the dust of His feet. Heaven was His throne, and that was His original residence. He wasn't born on this earth, but He was eternally begotten from everlasting in heaven. To His holy eyes, earth was a defiled and fallen place. It was inhabited by sinful, evil men who do vile, wicked things. The whole earth had been misused and corrupted by creatures who had sinned with its resources. The whole land was ruled by the devil, and all men were his children and followed his dictates. The earth was an abomination to His sight. Yet Christ came down to the earth. To Christ, coming down to earth was like descending into Hell. When unbelievers die, they are thrust lower into Hell. Similarly Christ came lower to this sin-infested, death-filled horror called the earth. Not only that, here on earth He went through the wrath, abandonment, curse and punishment from His own Father. There was no need for Jesus to go Hell to pay for our sins. Him coming down to earth and bearing the sorrows of the world was enough hell, and He was thrown in to the Lake of Fire on the cross. The cross was sufficient to forgive all our sins. His blood that He shed was sufficient payment. By His blood He shut the door to hell to anyone who would believe in Him, that second death would have no hold on them, because Christ had experienced it all for them. And this Christ rose and ascended back to where He came from.

We also remember that in Rephidim Israel fought with Amalek that attacked them:
Exodus 17:7-9 (KJV)
And 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? [8] Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. [9] And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

Children of Israel fought with God and complained that He wasn't giving them water. And because they fought with God, God made Amalek to fight with Israel. Just as they were hostile to God, God made Amalek to be hostile towards them. Broken relationship with God always leads to broken relationship with man. Israel trusted not in God to provide water for them, and therefore arose discomfort in their hearts, leading to rebellion. They said to themselves, "Is the Lord among us?", after having seen all His miracles in Egypt, the Red Sea, Marah and the wilderness of Sin. They said within themselves, 'Is God really among us? Or has all this been just an illusion, just a series of flukes? Maybe it was all an accident". Thus they fought with God with their evil hearts of unbelief. And this same unbelief kept them outside the promised land for forty years. Unbelief is the chief of all sin. It is what made Adam and Eve fall. We should not think of unbelief as a small sin. God is greatly offended by unbelief. It is an attack against God. To not trust God is to belittle God. In effect, Israel was saying to God, 'I know You parted the Red Sea a few months ago and rained bread from heaven last week, but now I really doubt that You did any of that. You are making me to thirst, again. I doubt that You can actually save me from this one. There is not even a pool of water here. I don't think You are strong enough or wise enough for this one'.

It is no wonder that God sent Amalek to them that they may be chastised for their unbelief. God pushed them even more that they may put their whole trust in God. And as Moses lifted up the same rod that brought water from the rock into the air, Israel prevailed against Amalek. By this rod Moses had performed most of the miracles so far, sending the plagues to Egypt, parting the Red Sea. This rod represents Jesus Christ. God also performed miracles through Jesus Christ, not to bring judgments, but to turn the water into wine, to heal those who were diseased, to raised the dead and to forgive those who were headed to eternal condemnation. See how then Moses trusted in God through this Rod that God would perform another miracle for Israel. Moses believed that if God can bring water to flow forth through the Rock, God could make Israel defeat Amalek. It should surprise us that Israel a few moments ago were dying of thirst, but because Moses believed God, these thirsty people were enabled to defeat these strong warriors. It was because Moses had put his whole trust in God, through the rod of God.

We also ought to trust in God with our whole heart, through Jesus Christ. Our trust is in God to save us, and believe in the only means through which God will help us: His Son Jesus Christ. God chose this Rod to perform His miracles of salvation. Christ is the Rod of God. Let us lift this Rod up high. Let us put our whole trust in Jesus Christ. God can do anything, and nothing is impossible for God. He made it possible for sinners to be forgiven by the blood of His only Son. He made it possible for filthy sinners to go to heaven. He made it possible for our dead hearts to be replaced with new hearts. If God has done a miracle before, God can easily to do the same again, if not bigger miracles. Nothing is difficult for the Lord. Let us not test God as Israel did, but let's believe forever that God is able to do all things. This is the heart that pleases God.