Sermon Tone Analysis

GOD IS…

OUR HEALER

Exodus 15:22-27

Prayer

I remember this song back in the day.

It was so laissez faire...

In every life we have some trouble

But when you worry you make it double

Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy now

There was a satirical version of that song that came out like two days later, and probably describes the condition our people of Israel found themselves in:

You win the lotto; a change of luck

Walk outside and get hit by a truck

Now worry.....

Life’s crappy...

How did we get here?

The last time we met, we discussed how Joseph, through his various ups and downs of life - the flour and sugar seasons of his existence - ultimately led him to attain a position of influence, and brought his family into Egypt.

Well, the descendants of Abraham were diligent about that “be fruitful and multiply” charge.

They were multiplying so fast, that after Joseph died, and a new pharaoh was in place, this new ruler was like, “ummm… we have to find a way to slow this down, or else they’ll outnumber us and turn on us.”

New pharoah hatched these various plans to impede reproductivity.

First, let’s work them to the dirt - they’ll be too tired to copulate.

WRONG!!!

Then, he tried to enlist the help of midwives to kill the sons that are born.

Midwives feared the Lord, so they weren’t about that life.

They told pharaoh, these Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptians.

They keep popping them out at unprecedented rates.

By the time we get there, it’s too late!

Then pharoah issues a decree that all newborn boys are to be tossed into the Nile.

Bottom line, he wasn’t a fan of the Hebrews.

Generations after Joseph’s father and brothers came to Egypt, Moses arrives.

The people of Israel had been enslaved for some 400 years before God uses Moses to lead his people to freedom, and out of the oppressive hands of Pharoah.

God had sent the plagues, and Pharoah was like the movie with the “sunken place” - GET OUT!!!

Then he changed his mind, like Trump on DACA, and came after them again.

So here they are, at waters edge.. Chapter 14, verse 10 says:

:10-

Down to 29

Exodus 14:29-

… So after witnessing the might of God and the love He has for His people (He did send the 10 plagues that served as the impetus for Pharoah to let them go, and performed one of histories most profound/amazing miracles, the parting of the Red Sea), being delivered from God’s enemies, God’s people now move toward a different set of trials: the lack of water.

Just a few days removed from this remarkable feat, rescue, and deliverance, here comes the grumbling again.

Did they not just forget how they grumbled and mumbled when at water’s edge, only to see God come through in the clutch?!!

It had to have been fresh in their minds… How could it not?

They were singing songs about it!!!

Exodus 15:1-

Exodus 15:

It tells us in verse 20, that the women bust out the tambourines and were dancing while Miriam sang.

do a little dance :)

We’ve done that haven’t we?

That oppressive boss, who always making inappropriate comments towards/around you finally gets fired/reassigned… You’re high-fiving with the other co-workers.

That man you were with for all those years, helping him to build from the start… you find out he’s been cheating…

“I was yo lover and yo secretary...”

How many of us, coming out of a situation we knew was bad for us… we’d been praying for a better situation or even just deliverance from this one, now, found ourselves finally out of the predicament only to find yourself struggling?

Things aren’t as rosy as we thought they were going to be...

How many of us, coming out of a situation we knew was bad for us… we’d been praying for a better situation or even just deliverance from this one, now, found ourselves finally out of the predicament only to find yourself struggling?

Things aren’t as rosy as we thought they were going to be...

Now we’re looking back at how things were, and thinking, “well, it wasn’t that bad… it didn’t kill me.”

The volatile relationship you used to be in, the one your aunts and cousins had to help you get out of because you used to fear for your life.... Now, because you’re working two jobs only to struggle to pay for a quarter of the stuff you had while in the last relationship.

You begin to groan and mumble about how good things used to be.

Maybe you were being too hyperbolic on how bad the bad stuff was..

Or you find yourselves working jobs you know you had no business in - selling dope, working a pole, operating a boiler room, because it gives you the kind of easy money that allows you to have stuff.

Forget about the occupational dangers, the constant looking over your shoulders, or the inability to sleep… Then finally, by the grace of God, you’re given an out.

There’s an opportunity to work a legit job.

You’re enthused, only to find out that starting from the bottom in this entry level position isn’t anywhere as lucrative as you thought.

Selling a legitimate product is tougher to do when you can’t lie.

You used to make a few stacks each shift at the gentlemen’s club.

Now, you make just under that amount for the entire month!

What.

Do.

You.

DO.???

This is the very situation Israel finds itself in.

After three days in the wilderness, coming off the most spectacular display of God’s might on their behalf, days into them making and singing songs about the victory, let’s see how the Israelites responded when they encountered their difficulties.

Exodus 15:

The first thing they did, upon experiencing the less than rosy situation, was complain… That’s some of us.

God uses someone or something to help deliver us from a dire circumstance, and because things aren’t as good as we though they would/should be on the other side, we get to complaining about that person or thing God used in the first place.

We don’t understand that it’s merely a vessel, and that God’s the one in control.

If you have a problem, take it to the boss… I just work here.

Seriously, though, even in their complaint to Moses, they were implicitly complaining about God.

So, I’d say this, a good way to delay the blessing (if not nullify it, altogether) that God has for you, is to sit there and complain about whatever it is you’re going through — especially after He just brought you out of something else!

There are over a dozen stories in the Torah, where “murmuring/mumbling” is mentioned.

There’s a reason why an 11 days journey took over 38 years!

Why were they murmuring?

This same group that witnessed firsthand God’s judgement on the Egyptians (10 plagues), and their deliverance, once had enough trust in God to walk through the Red Sea with water sitting up like walls on either side.

Things got tight and tough, and instead of remembering God’s might and His faithfulness to His people, they complained.

Don’t let it get lost here..

I get it, it was hot, rocky, and there was no water.

But their real issue wasn’t thirst..

It was lack of faith.

They’ve seen firsthand what He could do.

They weren’t relying on old stories passed down from generations.

It was literally three days ago!!! What they did was focus on the problem, and not the Solution.

Point 1

I. Focus on Faith, not Fear

Where else did we see that?

Mark 4:35

Our God

I don’t know about you.. but if God had power enough over water to make it stand upright, and then crash on command, then I have to believe that He has enough control over water to deliver it when I most need it.

Focus on Faith, not fear

Back in , verse 25, Moses responds to their complaints:

:

2 final points here:

II.

We should GO to God, not complain about Him