Will You Take God Up On His Test? (Exodus 15:22-27) Series

I apparently needed a break from Exodus, which I didn't expect (did Psalm 9-12). But I'm learning to not fight it, and just go with it. [And I'm hoping this is the Spirit leading me, somehow]. This week, I felt like I was maybe ready to try Exodus again.

Let's start by rereading Exodus 15:1-21. God has drown the Egyptians, and rescued his people. And Moses and Israel respond by singing a song to Yahweh, celebrating what He did for them:

(1) At that time Moses was singing this song, with the sons of Israel, to Yahweh,

and they spoke, saying,

"I shall sing to Yahweh,

because He has surely been exalted/lifted up;

Horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea.

My strength and my song, Yah is,

and He has become for me, salvation.

This [one] [is] my El/God,

and I will praise him-- the God/Elohim of my father--,

and I will exalt him.

(3) Yahweh [is] is a Man of War;

Yahweh [is] his name.

(4) The chariots of Pharaoh, with his strength, He has thrown into the sea,

while the elite of his officers were drown in the Sea of Reeds.

(5) The floods were covering them;

they have descended into the depths like a stone.

(6) Your right hand, O Yahweh, is glorious in power;

your right hand, O Yahweh, will shatter/crush the enemy,

(7) while in the greatness of your majesty you overthrow the ones rising against you.

You send out your wrath;

It consumes them like stubble (cf. Exodus 5:12),

(8) while by the breath/wind of your anger/nostrils the waters were piled up;

they stood upright like a heap-- the waves.

They congealed-- the floods-- in the heart of the sea.

(9) He has said-- the enemy:

"I will pursue;

I will overtake;

I will divide the loot;"

My desire/neck shall be filled of them;

I will draw my sword;

My hand will take possession of them."

(10) You blew with your breath;

It covered them-- the sea.

They sank like lead in the mighty sea.

(11) Who is like you among the el/gods, O Yahweh?

Who is like you?

Majestic in holiness/consecration;

Awesome in praiseworthy/powerful deeds;

The One Doing wonders.

(12) You stretched out your right hand;

It swallowed them-- the earth.

(13) You led in your loyalty the people who you have redeemed.

You have guided by your strength to your holy/consecrated abode/dwelling place.

(14) They have heard-- the peoples;

They tremble.

Pain has seized the dwellers of Philistia.

(15) Then, they were horrified-- the leaders of Edom.

The rulers of Moab-- great distress is seizing them.

They melted away-- all the dwellers of Canaan.

(16) It falls upon them-- terror and dread.

By the greatness of your arm, they were silenced like a stone,

until your people passed over, O Yahweh--

until they passed over-- the people who you have acquired.

You will bring them,

and you will plant them on the mountain of your inheritance.

A place for your dwelling, you have made, O Yahweh.

A sanctuary/consecrated/holy place, Lord, your hands have established.

(18) Yahweh will reign forever and ever,

(19) because they came-- the horses of Pharaoh, with his chariots, and with his charioteers, into the sea,

and Yahweh brought back upon them the waters of the sea,

while the sons of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea,"

(20) and Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the tambourine in her hand,

and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances,

(21) and Miriam answered them:

"Sing to Yahweh,

because He is surely highly exalted;

A horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea,"

Here, we start reading new stuff:

(22) And Moses led Israel from the Sea of Reeds,

and they went out to the wilderness of Shur,

and they walked three days in the wilderness,

and they didn't find water,

(23) and they came to Marah/Bitter,

and they weren't able to drink water from Marah/Bitter

because bitter, it was.

For this reason its name is called "Bitter,"

Imagine walking through the desert for three days, without finding any water. Three days is a long time. Especially for the elderly, or little kids, or livestock. But for anyone, three days is about as long as you can go apart from water, without dying. So even if we imagine that the people have some type of jars to hold water (Genesis 24:16), it's really serious. People and animals are going to stop dropping like flies.

And then, you finally see the water, and you have this great sense of relief. But the water is "bitter." You can't drink it. Probably, it makes you sick.

If you're an Israelite, what would you do?

We maybe know the story, and we read this with a sense of moral and spiritual superiority. Obviously, when life is tough, we always pray to God. We don't ever lose faith in God's goodness or power. We don't ever wonder if some hardship will be our end. We don't ever wonder if following Jesus is a big mistake. We know all things work out for our good.