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?"

The two names given by Moses to this place are seized upon by Bible critics as the basis of multiple sources, combined accounts, and the usual cavil one meets in that type of "analysis." What is so unusual about two names? Besides that, the reason for each name is here stated by the sacred author. Is not Jerusalem called Mount Zion? Christ visited a place called both Dalmanutha and Magadan (Matthew 15:39; Mark 8:10). Hebron was known also as Kiriath-arba. Beersheba was known by two designations: "The Well of the Oath," and "The Well of the Seven."[9]

The dual events commemorated by these names were: (1) Israel's tempting or "proving" of God, or rather, of God's proving them; and (2) the quarrelsome rebellion against Moses involving a threat of stoning. Both needed to be memorialized, and so they were: "Massah means to test or prove, and Meribah means quarreling or dissension."[10]

"Is Jehovah among us or not ...?" In this rebellions outburst, the subtle shift had taken place in the sinful hearts of men which actually pervert the truth "that we are the Lord's," making it to be, "the Lord is ours!" The rude and rebellious demands of Israel were most sinful and unbecoming a people so recently redeemed from slavery, but it should be remembered that long years of slavery had left their mark upon the minds and hearts of that people. In their dreams and imaginations of freedom, they had somehow overlooked the price and requirements of freedom. Free men should not expect that God will exempt them from every hardship. "They thought incorrectly that it was God's business to see to it that His people were rendered marvelously immune to the hazards of existence, time, accident, and environment."[11] And yet, are not Christians today sometimes tempted to doubt the providence of God because of hardships encountered in the way of life?