Exodus 17:1 says, And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.  The people of Israel journeyed out of the wilderness of Sin, which was evidently the name of a place,  We as followers of Christ journey out of a spiritual wilderness of sin when we accept Him as our Savior and Lord.  They set up in Rephidim, but there was no water to drink.  We today set up camp in this world, short of the promised land of Heaven, but at least we have the spiritual water to drink.  Just as God had promised the Israelites a land flowing with milk and honey, He has promised us everlasting life, no matter what happens in this world.  Verse two states, Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?  The people began to complain to Moses, demanding that he give them water to drink.  They still evidently did not understand that Moses was just God's  spokesman, or possibly they thought that Moses was there to get anything they demanded from God.  We need to understand that as followers of Christ we are not here to give people anything they demand, but are simply spokesmen of God, pointing them to Him.  Also, as His followers, we are not here to demand everything we want.  We simply need to put our faith in God without complaining.  Moses asked them why they were chiding, or complaining to him, and by doing so tempting the LORD.  We should never be guilty of tempting, or doubting, God.  Verse three adds,  And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?   The murmuring of the people of Israel got a little more personal.  They asked Moses why he, and once again not God, had led them out of Egypt if their cattle and they were to die of thirst in the wilderness.  They still lacked faith in God.  Some people today may respond to the gospel expecting everything in life to suddenly be right, but having not truly accepted Christ by faith.  If they do, they may come to us at the first time of trouble and complain that they are worse off than they were before.  Verse four states, And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.  Moses at least knew to go to God for the answer.  Moses was still doing what God called him to do, and he was afraid he was going to get stoned for his trouble.  When the world seems to be closing in around us, if we are doing what God has called us to do, we should only cry out to Him for answers.  Sometimes, like Stephen, the answer may be that we get stoned, but we must never lose our faith in God.  Verse five declares, 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.  God told Moses to take his rod and the elders of Israel and go before the people of Israel.  The first thing Moses had to do was act by faith in God, just as we must today.  Verse six adds, 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.  God told Moses when he got to the rock of Horeb that he was to hit the rock with the rod and God would bring water out of the rock.  Once more, their was nothing magical about the rod, but it represented God's presence with Moses.  When God works through us today, it is not because He has to, but because He chooses to.  Verse seven concludes, 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?  Moses named the place to indicate that it was a place where the people had tempted God, questioning whether God was with them or not.  As followers of Christ, we have to firmly claim the promise that wherever we are God is with us through the Holy Spirit.  We certainly do not need places in our lives named for our lack of faith and questioning God.