Bitter Water Made Sweet

                                                                   Exodus 15;22-27

September 6, 2024

 

Bitter Water Made Sweet

Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur.  They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.  When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore, it was named Marah.  And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”  And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the Lord^] made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,  saying, “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 diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”

 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

Three days and found no water, can you put yourself in their shoe? They had just seen God destroy the army of Egypt, and let them walk across the Red Sea on dry ground, and after three days without finding water, they had forgotten how big their God is.  And they come to Marah, and it water is bitter, and they are really upset with Moses.  You ask any pastor who has been given a task by God, and it so to speak hits that bitter water point, and you are going to have a lot of backseat quarterbacks.  

I was going to ask God has changed, but you know He changes not.  And the more I read, we humans are not any different than our Jewish friends; we have short memories.  This was the requirement for them, and it is my belief it is still for those who are followers of Jesus. “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 diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”  IF that is a two-letter word, and it is repeated in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  IF, and that applies to you and me, until we learn to listen to the voice of our Lord and do what is right in His eyes and keep His commandments and all of His statutes, this nation we care about will not be healed.  Let me quote a man I had great respect for: “You can’t, He never said you could, He can and He promised He would.”  It's all about whether you are willing to ask the Holy Spirit to give you ears to hear and eyes to see, and follow Jesus, not the culture or anything else.  

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice