Wednesday 12/06/17
Message – Three Days In…
Series: Thru the Bible – Exodus 15b-18
Podcast: Download (56.2MB)
Three Days In…
Exodus 15:22-27,
“22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.
24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
25 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. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,
26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His – sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.”
God tests His people – then gives them rest.
Words to know…
- Statute – A decree stating an expectation or mandate.
- Ordinance – A legal decision or judgment rendered to be obeyed.
- Commandment – While this word Can be used in reference to human commands, like that of a king, in the first 5 books of the Bible it is ALWAYS used in reference to a direct command of God. (This will be important as we continue!)
- Jehovah – From H1961; (the) self Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God: – Jehovah, the Lord. Jehovah = ” the existing One”
It is the proper name of the one true God. The Jews refused to pronounced it except without the vowels out of respect to the holiness of the name. It seems as though this word is actually referring to the person of the godhead we refer to as Jesus or the Living Word.
Psalm 23:1 has the Lord (Jehovah) as David’s shepherd, and when Jesus comes into the world He identifies with that role. “I am the good Shepherd”
By saying, “For I Am Jehovah Who Heals you”… it appears that this ordinance and its consequences were somehow connected to the name he revealed to them. Jehovah-Rapha
Exodus 16
Vs. 1-31
- 2 ½ months into their journey they reached the Wilderness of sin.
- This general area was in or near Midian which was were Moses had married and tended sheep for 40 years and where his father-in-law Jethro still lived with Moses’ wife Zipporah whom Moses sent back home. We will see them again in chapter 18.
- God tests Israel with hunger (Deut. 8:1-6)
“(1) Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. (2) And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to reveal what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. (3) So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. (4) Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. (5) You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you. (6) “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.”
- We see that God TESTS us to reveal our hearts and to teach us!
- Israel still complains and blames Moses
- At this point this was most certainly just a way of avoiding telling God directly that they did not trust Him – because they HAD to know at this point that it was the Lord Who had brought them out of Egypt.
- God hears (the results of the test) and turns it into an object lesson to teach them
- Again the pattern of evening to morning
- Evening (ereb) you will know by meat to eat
- Ereb = evening but the word has another connotation of obscurity, chaos or disorder.
- The word know here is experience based and means to perceive, consider and discern.
- Morning (boker) See God’s Glory by bread from heaven
- Boker = morning but the word has another connotation of becoming discernable, increasing in clarity and order.
- The word see here means to learn to know by observation.
- Evening (ereb) you will know by meat to eat
- Again the pattern of evening to morning
- Israel disobeys and God begins to complain
Vs. 32-36
- God keeps proof of faithfulness and faithlessness in the ark of the covenant.
- Laid it up BEFORE the Testimony (the ark which was to be made later – remember up to this point, this was all written in retrospect) See Heb. 9:4
Exodus 17
Vs. 1-7 (refer to slide for Rephidim)
- The people contended with Moses over the lack of water. The strength of this word is seen in it’s use as a lawsuit in some places. This was open and accusatory strife to the point where Moses thought they may seek to stone him.
- Moses called it “tempting Jehovah” – because the people were saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
- Moses appeals to God – “what should I do with them?”
- God sends Moses out with the elders (the older and wiser of each tribe) and commands him to strike the rock (as symbol of Christ – when His side was struck and the water gushed out) – See 1 Cor. 10:1-14
Vs. 8-16,
- Moses is using Joshua almost from the beginning. It was an apprenticeship – like the disciples with Jesus or Timothy with Paul.
- Moses is upheld by those called to help him.
We then read and commented on chapter 18. There is more information in the audio/video of the actual message. I hope you listen, learn and enjoy!
…Blessings!
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Blessings!