Bitter Turned Sweet

Bitter Turned Sweet

Exodus 15:23-25

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If you’ve been following over these last weeks since the start of the New Year, you’ve seen how I’ve been led to share with you teachings and stories from the Old Testament that have direct relevance to the gospel message of Jesus Christ, and many of which are direct prophecies concerning His coming and His mission.

And this is what I am going to be speaking about in our message today from story of the Israel’s exodus from their Egyptian bondage, and not only how it applies to Jesus’s mission, but also how it closely describes the lives we live today.

It is, therefore, from this premise that I approach today’s teaching from what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10.

“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:11-12 NKJV)

You see, found within the pages of the Old Testament are types, prophecies and shadows that reveal the realities of what is written in the New Testament, which is actually what the Apostle Paul and the other New Testament writers often referred to. In fact, Jesus Himself told us of how profoundly revelatory they are.

“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” (John 5:39 NKJV)

And so, this is how I approach many of these passages in the Old Testament and find truths to not only live my life by, but also find truths about what Jesus did for us when He came to this earth, lived amongst us, died upon the cross, and was raised from the dead showing us then the way to eternal life.

And so, in our story of Israel’s first steps towards the Promised Land we see some real examples that we need to navigate through on our own journey and how God guides, provides, and corrects us.

“Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter … And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’ So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet … And there He tested them” (Exodus 15:23-25 NKJV)

I’d like to begin where this verse ends, and that is it was at the waters of Marah that God tested the Israelites. And the Apostle James talks about this time of testing as a positive and not like a negative that we often associate it with.

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4 NKJV)

Now this next statement I believe is a keeper.

God tests our faith to see what part of our hearts need shoring up so that He can give to us the encouragement to obey. God doesn’t test our faith to see how badly we can fail, but to see how He can encourage us to succeed.

And so, with this clearly stated, what can we learn to help us to better understand these tests of our faith.

One of those rules that helps our spiritual lives grow is that times of testing come before we find that time of rest. And this is so true when we look at how many tests the Jewish people had to go through and learn from until they were allowed to enter the Promised Land. And one of the first test that gives us some real insight comes immediately after God opened the Red Sea and delivered them from Egypt.

Now, what they may have been thinking is that with such a pronounced victory, that things were going to be all peaches and crème, and that they would just waltz on in and God would disperse their enemies like He did with the waters of the Red Sea.

They had experienced a wonderful deliverance and what it seems like is that they began to take God for granted, assuming that they would be swept into the Promised Land, promptly and painlessly.

But it was right after this great victory that the first test came as to whether they were going to trust God. And they really didn’t do that well. Three days in, they came to a source of water only to find the water bitter, and unfit for human consumption.

And so, in their disappointment and disillusionment they cried out and complained against Moses saying, “What shall we drink?” (Exodus 15:24 NKJV)