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Exodus 15:22-27

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Bitter Water Made Sweet 22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of a Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to b Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 1 24 And the people c grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he d cried to the Lord , and the Lord showed him a log, 1 and he e threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord 2 made for them a statute and a rule, and there he f tested them, 26 saying, g “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the h diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord , i your healer.” 27 Then j they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

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Notes

Grumbling, what is grumbling? How long does it take one to grumble? It such a shame to say, that I grumble everyday about almost everything. I grumble about work, about not being able to sleep properly, feeling sleepy at work and that's not the half of what I grumble about. Context of our text, We know that this is from the time where God with his mighty hand, saved and led Israel out of Egypt and crossed the red sea. Exodus 7:5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord , when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” Keep an eye on the progression of events. First , they have reached Marah after 3 days of travel in the wilderness. Marah is actually bitter in its literal translation. Remember Naomi? Ruth 1:20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. That's exactly what it means here, They came to bitter, they could not drink the water of bitter, because it was bitter. therefore it was named bitter. I wonder, how miserable their lives were at that point. Saved from the slavery of Egypt, only to walk in the wilderness for 3 days, full of stress, tired from the heat, with no water, only to find water that is bitter. Your children complaining, place being crowded, environment being noisy, people complaining, you get the picture. Do you think you would not do the same as the Israelites? in such a miserable situation? Second , Look at Moses' reaction, he cried. He cried, that's how bad of a situation Moses was in. The Israelites were pissed of, to the point that Moses cried out to the Lord. Then, in response, God shows Moses a log, could be just any log. Anyway, God had Moses throw the log into the water. Then the water became sweet. Third , God then made a statute and a rule, and then warns them for not keep, why? coz God is the Lord our healer. Fourth , After all that has happened, they then moved out and were brought to a nice oasis. Story to be continued... What can we learn from this text? 1. We all go through tough situations, and because we are sinners we sin during these situations. We Grumble. 2. Even after that, Christ has showed us grace, after all our grumbles. Remember the log? The log here resembles the cross, and the Bitter water resembles our bitter lives. When that log was thrown into the water, when God showed us the cross, our lives became sweet. Christ took on your grumbling, and all other sins so that your life will be made sweet. Let this be motivation enough for you to follow with joy and gladness. Grumbling is a slap on God's face, saying that all he does is not good enough, and God does not know what he's doing. So, l et us not test Him in these things, but let us repent of our sins, and run to Christ. Paul tells us, 1 Corinthians 10:9-11 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore, Philippians 2:14-16 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

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editing

Exodus 15:22-27

Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea,

and they went into the wilderness of a Shur.

They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

ideaexplanation

progression

When they came to b Marah,

they could not drink the water of Marah

because it was bitter;

ground

temporal

therefore it was named Marah. 1

inference

And the people c grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

actionresult

And he d cried to the Lord ,

and the Lord showed him a log, 1

and he e threw it into the water,

and the water became sweet.

There the Lord 2 made for them a statute and a rule,

and there he f tested them, saying,

g “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God,

and do that which is right in his eyes,

and give ear to his commandments

and keep all his statutes,

series

I will put none of the h diseases on you

that I put on the Egyptians,

comparison

conditional

for I am the Lord , i your healer.”

Then j they came to Elim,

where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees,

and they encamped there by the water.

discourse