The Lord At Marah

THE LORD AT MARAH

Ex. 15:22-26

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Interviewer to Millionaire: To whom do you owe your success as a millionaire? " Millionaire: "I owe everything to my wife." Interviewer: "Wow, she must be some woman. Interviewer: "What were you before you married her?" Millionaire: "A Billionaire."

2. A newly married man asked his wife, "Would you have married me if my father hadn't left me a fortune?" "Honey," the woman replied Sweetly, "I'd have married you NO MATTER WHO LEFT YOU A FORTUNE."

3. Wife: You always carry my photo in your handbag to the office. Why? Darling : When there is a problem, no matter how impossible, I look at your picture and the problem disappears. Wife: You see, how miraculous and powerful I am for you? Darling : "Yes, I see your picture and say to myself, 'What other problem Can there be greater than this one?'"

B. TEXT

22So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. 23And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? 25And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, 26And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee” Exodus 15:22-26

C. THESIS

Today we’re looking God's healing nature – He's Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals.

I. THE ROAD FROM PRAISE TO PROTEST

A. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

1. The Israelites had just passed through the Red Sea on dry ground. The people are excited to finally be free and so they express their praise in the first part of Exodus 15. Look at verses 1-3: “I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.” This song of praise goes on for 21 verses!

2. But then their praising was turned into protesting. In verse 22 we read that Moses led them into the “Desert of Shur.” “Shur” means a “wall.” And that’s exactly how they felt. They had run into a wall of despair instead of a window to blessing.

3. Some of you feel like you’ve hit a wall. After wandering in the wilderness for three days, and having no water to drink, the people turn on Moses at a place called Marah, which means “bitterness.” (By the way, this is the name Naomi chose for herself after experiencing incredible pain and disappointment in Ruth 1:20.)

4. So God’s people went from gratitude to grumbling because when they finally found some water, they soon discovered it had a very bitter taste. Talk about disappointment! Their expectations were shattered.

5. In verse 24, they put Moses on the spot: “What are we to drink?” The people were angry with God, but they took it out on a person. We do that too, don’t we? Someone has said that anger is a magnet in search of metal, and the closest metal was Moses. We tend to take things out on others when we don’t get what we want when we want it.

6. When we get pumped-up everything seems great; but a coming down to earth is inevitable. The Israelites saw God make a way through the Red Sea, but now they’re thirsty. On top of that, now they have a bitter taste in their mouth. Some of you may feel that way tonight. You’ve gone from high expectations to low disappointment to heavy discouragement.

7. Somehow in this process, the memory of God’s faithfulness is somehow forgotten -- and it only took them three days to land in the ditch of despair. Bitterness can blind us to the promises of God. They had forgotten that life in Egypt was terrible. But now freedom from Egypt has also left them feeling bitter because their expectations were too high.

B. MOSES’ & GOD’S RESPONSE