The Water Test

The Water Test Exodus 15:22-27 NKJV One morning a young man named Sam who had just recently given his life to Christ was sitting on a park bench eagerly reading his Bible and talking to himself. His mumbling turned into excitement as he yelled out, “Hallelujah! God is great!” without caring or even noticing who may be around him. Another man sitting on a park bench opposite to Sam over-heard his yell and asked him why he was so happy. Sam looked up and joyfully said, “Do you know the power of God? I just read that God parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk across on dry ground!” The man laughed a little, sat down next to Sam, and attempted to explain away biblical miracles. He said, “Sam, before people became educated, whatever they couldn’t explain, they said it was because of God. But now modern science can easily explain this so-called miracle. You see, back then what they called the Red Sea was only 10 inches deep, and sometimes wind can blow just right, causing the water to part.” The boy kinda shrugged his shoulders and began reading his Bible again. The man, feeling like he had just educated poor Sam, began to leave. He was only a few steps away when he again heard Sam excitedly yell out, “Hallelujah! God is even Greater than I thought!” “What did you read now Sam?” asked the man. “God just drowned the entire Egyptian army in 10 inches of water!” Today’s Scripture goes back to a story all of us have probably heard since childhood, Moses parting the Red Sea. In Exodus 14, Moses lift’s up his staff and God parts the water so the Israelites could cross on dry ground, and once safely across, God let the waters crash down upon the Egyptian army. It’s an amazing example of God’s power over creation. But today, we’re not going to talk very much about the Red Sea crossing. Instead, we’re going to use it as a backdrop for today’s lesson. The Israelites were on an emotional and spiritual high. The last verse of Exodus 14 says, “When the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant.” They were confident in God because they had just seen God’s power. But now, in today’s Scripture we read in verse 22, “Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the wilderness of Shur.” The Israelites just came through water, but now find themselves in extremely dry land. Now nobody enjoys being in the wilderness, but the wilderness was the only way these people could go to get to where God was leading them. Picture it like this: The only way the Israelites could get from Egypt (where they were delivered from) to Canaan (where God was delivering them to) was through the wilderness. Now we all know that the “wilderness” is seen as open land. The Israelites were in the desert, which is a wilderness. We can think of our mountains as wilderness. But besides wilderness being a geographic location, the Bible also likens wilderness to a time of testing. In the wilderness, all the joys and comforts of life seem diminished or are gone all together. Discouragement sets in and relief seems to be only a mirage. And this is the key lesson we need to take away from today: There are times in life when the only way to get from where you are to where you need to go is through the wilderness! There was no other way for the Israelites to get to Canaan but to go through the wilderness. We read in the Bible that for the Israelites, their wilderness lacked water. The rest of verse 22 & 23 says, “For 3 days they traveled in the wilderness without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why they place is called Marah).” All of us here know that the human body can only survive about 3 days without any water. 3 days ago the Israelites stood in desperate need of a miracle while standing next to a large body of water. Now here are the Israelites, 3 day’s into the dry, desert wilderness, standing in desperate need of another miracle, only this time at a small body of water that was too bitter to drink. 3 days in the hot desert wilderness and the only water they found was un-drinkable. Their bodies were physically drained. They probably saw the water from afar off. Excited, they stirred up what energy they had left and hurried to the healing and refreshing water, only to have their hopes crushed once they found the water was not drinkable. Out of resources and hope, despair set in and the Israelites did what most all of us do when things don’t go the way we want them to, they complained. As verse 24 says, “the people grumbled against Moses and asked, ‘What are we to drink?’” Their great praise and trust in God for delivering them through the water was all but forgotten in only 3 days. You see, both the miracle at the Red Sea and the problem they now face at Marah deal with the same thing, WATER. 3 days ago they just walked through water only to run outta water. They just watched with their own eyes God do an incredible miracle with water, but now they grumbled. Stuck in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere with no visible solution, they complained. Oh how little time it takes to forget what God has done and what God can do! The Israelites trouble at Marah teaches us an important life lesson when we face troubles: God has a purpose for your pain. God had a reason for letting His people go through this situation and verse 25 tells us why; “There the LORD issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test.” In other words, water wasn’t so much the problem; water was the test. God was testing them to see what they had learned. God revealed His awesome power over creation and now wanted to test the Israelites faith. God will only reveal Himself to you in a way that you can understand Him. Think about it; if God allowed His people to leave Egypt and go straight to Canaan, then once in Canaan when life is going great and the people are free and no longer slaves, do you think they’d look for God? I don’t. To see your need for God, you must first see your need! We also need to understand that the Israelites water test was not outside of God’s will. You can stand on dry ground and still be in God’s will. You can find yourself in the wilderness but still be in God’s will. Dry spells hit all of us. And God will use these trials as a test to see if you’ve been paying attention to the lessons you’ve learned, and for God to reveal more of Himself to you in order to strengthen your faith. In John 17, we read that on the night of Jesus’ arrest, He prayed for us in the garden, asking His Father not to take us outta the world, but to keep us safe in this world (John 17:15). Jesus didn’t by-pass the difficulty of His 40-day wilderness test, but endured and navigated His way through it by His reliance in God the Father, prayer, and Scripture. Jesus knows that obstacles are unavoidable and understands that the process is just as important as the result. So how do you know if you're failing the test? You start complaining. Football season is almost upon us, and pre-season has already started. What would you think of a football player whose Promised Land is scoring a touchdown in the glory of the endzone, but all the time complains to the coach that every time he gets the ball other players keep trying to hit him and take the ball away? Instead, the football player knows that the harder things become, the more rewarding a touchdown is. Football players train and practice constantly, so when game day comes, the coach knows his players are ready. The coach doesn’t take for granted that his players know all the plays; instead, the coach makes his players practice, so he can see what information they learned put in action. God wants the same from you. God doesn’t just want you to read and study His Word; He wants you to apply it to your life. Knowledge of the Bible is great, but wisdom applies that knowledge to life! There are simply some things in life we cannot learn until we go through the journey and come out on the other end of it not simply with knowledge, but with experience too! Now, these thirsty Israelites found themselves in a situation where their abilities and resources are useless. They didn’t learn that God was greater than water at the Red Sea, so God’s going to show them again at Marah. The Bible says in verse 25 that after Moses cried out to God, “the LORD showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the water became sweet.” Remember, the water at Marah was bitter. It was full of disease and polluted. And verse 26 says, “if we follow God’s instructions, God won’t bring the diseases He brought on Egypt to you because the LORD heals you.” God is not talking about sickness brought upon by viruses because Christian’s can and do get sick. Instead, God is referring to the unrighteousness that inflicted the Egyptians. God’s instructions, His Laws, are designed to keep us from harm. To be righteous, we need to be purified from unrighteousness. So God provided a tree to make the water sweet. If you're facing any type of bitterness today, pick up the tree! It might seem odd. Stepping out in faith can seem strange or even unconventional. God’s ways of addressing life’s bitter situations won’t always make sense, but let God be God, and do what He says, because “His ways are higher than our ways” (Isaiah 55:8-9). As we finish up today’s lesson, verse 27 says, “Then they came to Elim, where there were 12 springs and 70 palm trees, and they camped there near the water.” The Israelites went from no water, to bitter water, to purified water, and now to plenty of water. Now keep in mind, a “spring,” is a continuous flow of fresh water. But remember they didn’t reach Elim by skipping Marah. They were tested first to make the waters of Elim that much more refreshing. So I ask you now, are stuck in a bitter place in your life? Are you experiencing your own wilderness? Remember, the wilderness can be anything; physical, spiritual, financial, emotional. It can be depression, confusion, a sense of lostness, or emptiness. Whether you're in the wilderness, in Marah, or Elim, is God saying something to you? God does want to take you to Elim, where you can enjoy your own spring of life. But you must first learn God’s lesson for you in Marah and allow Him to purify your heart and mind, so your actions flow through your faith and trust in God. Jesus tells us in John 7:37-38, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Life requires water. Jesus offers you living water (John 4:10). Not life bitter and polluted, but purified and eternal through His wooden cross. Remember, the wood of the tree and the wood of the cross both purify. So I tell you today; If life seems bitter and you can’t quench your thirst, ask Christ for His living water by confessing your sins and placing your faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. And “With joy you will draw water from His well of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). Amen. Prayer Lord You say when we seek you with all our heart we’ll find You Just as parents discipline their children we know that You “discipline us for our good, that we may share in Your Holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful; later on, however, it produces the peaceable fruit of righteousness for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:10-11).