John Calvin Commentary Exodus 17:7

"And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the striving of the children of Israel, and because they tempted Jehovah, saying, Is Jehovah among us, or not?" — Exodus 17:7 (ASV)

And he called the name of the place. The verb here might be taken indefinitely, as if it were said that this name was given to the place; but it is more probable that Moses, at God’s command, so called the place, so that the Israelites might be more ready to acknowledge their crime, when it was thus marked with double infamy.

It was not only His intention to impress this feeling upon their minds, but also to pass down its memory to posterity. The same reproof is afterwards repeated at Cades, as we shall see, because the former notice had been forgotten by these foolish people.

The very name of the place¹⁸⁹ was as much as to say that the earth itself cried out, that the people, in their perverse nature, were rebellious and prone to unbelief. Now, temptation is the mother of contentions; for as soon as anything occurs contrary to the wishes of one who distrusts God, he resorts to murmuring and dispute.

When Moses relates that the Israelites “tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?” he does not mean that they openly spoke this; but this was the tendency of their cries when, because of the lack of water, they rose against Moses and complained that he had deceived them, as though God had no power to help them.

But though God branded the people for their wickedness and perversity with a lasting mark of disgrace, yet He gave them an extraordinary proof of His goodness. He did this not only by giving them the drink by which their bodies might be refreshed but also by honoring their souls with spiritual drink.

As Paul testifies (1 Corinthians 10:4), that rock was Christ, and therefore he compares the water that flowed from it to the cup of the Holy Supper.

So we see how God’s immeasurable bounty surpasses all human wickedness, and how, by turning their vices towards salvation, He brings light out of darkness; He is so far from giving them the reward they deserve when He grants them what is profitable.

But we must remember the warning inserted here: that it availed many of them nothing to drink of that spiritual drink, because by their crimes they profaned that excellent gift.

¹⁸⁹ Massah, , i.e., temptation., temptation.