Exodus 15:22-27

Good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together, we have a little bit of coffee, we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, we'll make it from Genesis to Leviticus. So glad to be with you today. While we have some coffee, we'll pray and we'll get into God's word. Let's pray. God, it is amazing that you have woken us up another day, that you have given us the blessing and opportunity to read your word. Father, we pray that you would please care for us, watch over us, teach us in Jesus's name. Amen. All right. So we are at Genesis chapter 15. I'm gonna wrap up that chapter this morning, Genesis chapter 15, beginning at verse 22. Here we go. So Moses brought Israel from the sea.
Then they went out into the wilderness of Sur, and they went three days in the journey and found no water. 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. Marah means bitter. And the people complained against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? So he cried out to Jehovah, 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 and said if you diligently heed the voice of the lord your god and do what is right in his sight give ear to hear 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 then they came to elim where there were 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees. So they camped there by the waters. Well, we need to ask ourselves the three questions like every morning, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to this? So what's this about? Will they come through the Red Sea now in the wilderness? And there's no water, right? You can only last a few days without water.
And so they need water to come and they come to this place called Mara. And there's water there, but it's bitter, but they can't drink it. So God shows Moses this random tree. And so he goes and he cuts it down and he throws it in the water and somehow the water becomes sweet. And they call this place Mara. Mara is the word for bitter. This is the same word in Ruth, where she comes back and she says, don't call me Naomi, call me Mara, right? For I've been afflicted. It's bitter for me. And so that's what happens there.
The story shifts the story the story takes a shift halfway through verse 25 there But the whole reason this is brought about is God is showing that he is the one protecting them providing for them caring for them But they have to keep his statutes and ordinances now the grace is what's Saved them the covenant is what brought them out But they still had to have covenant faithfulness.
They still had covenant obedience. And so we're still four more chapters away from getting the Ten Commandments. We haven't even started getting the law yet. But here the Lord introduces them to this concept of obedience, of faithfulness. And it's a statute and an ordinance for them.
And there he tested them 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, keep his statutes. I will put none of these diseases on you, which I have brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.
Right. This is saying that where there is obedience, there's also blessing. Now, this is not a get rich quick scheme. This is not health, wealth and prosperity. But this is the Lord saying he's the one who heals them. He's the one who's going to care for them. He's the one who's going to provide for them. He's just did it with the waters at Mara. But they obeyed him going through the Red Sea. He wasn't just going to let them die in the wilderness. So he blesses them. Because he loves them, because he's redeemed them. But he's also priming them for, look, I love you.
You need to keep my commandments. If you're going to be my people, you need to act like my people. There's this corporate election of them. And now he's saying, you need to be holy like I'm holy. This is where we're getting a taste for what's about to happen, where the covenant story is about to take another turn. And so it's a statute and ordinance.
It's the first time that we've seen this and he just tells them, I'm not going to treat you the same way I treated the Egyptians. If you don't act like the Egyptians, if you love me, if you follow me, if you keep my ways, I'm going to continue to care for you and love you. Then they came to Elim where there were 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees. So they camped there by the waters or they got to take some to an oasis. There's all sorts of water and there's all sorts of shade and people were able to relax.
So really what's this about? This is about God loving, providing, caring for his people, and introducing them to this idea of him being their provider and protector, but also their need for covenant faithfulness and holiness. What's the best verse to summarize this? Well, I have the second part of verse, see, I didn't underline anything for 22 through 24. Maybe I would underline verse 25 and 26. I think that's what I would do. I think those two verses get at the heart of what this is getting at.
Well, last see calling, what are we called to do? Well, God still wants us to be faithful. He's still the one who saved us. He's still the one who redeemed us. He's still the one who has cared for us. He's the one who has turned our bitterness to sweetness. He's the one who brings us by the still waters and leads us to those green pastures. He's still the one who is the Lord. And so do we, out of hearts of love, not because we're trying to earn his love, no, he's already given the Israelites his love. He's already redeemed them. He's already shown them that. And he's done that for us too.
But out of hearts of love for him, do we keep his statutes and ordinances? It's not legalism, but do we keep the law of Christ now? Do we love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves? Do we put off the old man with his lying, with his stealing, with his sexual immorality? And do we put on hard work, generosity, love, purity because we love Christ because of what God has done for us pouring out his love for us in our hearts.
God desires a people who will be holy to see us holy and he's given us his Holy Spirit so we ought to walk in his ways. Let's pray. Father we thank you so much for this day. Lord we thank you that you have made our water sweet We thank you that you have protected us and provide for us. You give us our daily bread. Lord, we pray that we would walk in your ways because we have hearts that believe in you and love you. Lord, please let us be those who worship you in spirit and in truth. and who walk according to your spirit. In Jesus's name, amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.