The Lord, Your Healer

Exodus 15:22-26 English Standard Version

Exodus 15:22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

Exodus 15:23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.

Exodus 15:24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

Exodus 15:25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,

Exodus 15:26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”

Exodus 15:25b There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,

1. The Lesson (statute) (Exodus 15:25b-26)

a. Exodus 15:25b There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,

b. Exodus 15:26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians,

i. Exodus 7:16 And you [Moses] shall say to him [Pharaoh], ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve [worship] me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed.

ii. Exodus 7:17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.

iii. Exodus 7:18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ”

iv. Exodus 7:19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ”

v. Exodus 7:20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lordcommanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.

vi. Exodus 7:21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

a. I will put none of these diseases upon you: presumably the diseases ‘put upon’ the Egyptians refer in the first place to the plagues in general, but in particular to the turning of the water into blood, which made it undrinkable. Israel will never find the water that God supplies unpalatable: he is YHWH their healer.[1]

2. The Test (tested) (Exodus 15:22-25b)

a. Exodus 15:22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

b. Exodus 15:23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.

i. Exodus 7:21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

c. Exodus 15:24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

d. Exodus 15:25a And he cried to the Lord,

i. Exodus 3:18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’

ii. Exodus 15:22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

3. The Benefit (rule (right/due)) (Exodus 15:26)

a. Exodus 15:26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”

b. Exodus 15:25 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log [Greek xylon], and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

c. 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree [Greek xylon], that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

d. Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

[1]R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 2, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 136–137.