Sermon Tone Analysis

CIT: God takes his children through the desert and in the midst of their grumbling while looking back to Egypt, God meets their needs and calls them to move forward.

God reveals himself as their healer.

CIS: You can’t move forward while facing backward.

True freedom moves forward with God as the healer.

You can’t move forward wishing for situations.

True freedom moves forward with hope in the Lord.

Bitter water turned sweet 22-25: when thirsty they find bitter water, they complain and then God makes the water sweet they move forward

Hungry they complain and grumble ( 16:2) and God provides Manna ( bread of angels Ps 78) they advance forward

They are thirsty, they grumble and God makes water out of a rock they move forward

Hard times reveal our idols.

The wilderness revealed how much influence and grip Egypt had on Israel.

God is weaning his people from the grip of Egypt in order for them to move forward.

Medieval commentators delighted to see here a reference to the cross, by which the bitterest of life’s waters is sweetened.

So long as we claim this only as an illustration of a great biblical truth, and not as an exegesis of the passage before us, this is fair enough.

There he proved them.

The meaning is ‘God tested Israel’, the same root as is used in ‘Massah’ (Exod.

17:7)

R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary, vol.

2, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 136.

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.

verse 27 - 12 and 70 = perfection.

Grumbled against Moses and Aaron - when we idolize we demonize.

Hoping vs wishing

new beginnings - The same God who created the universe,

First use of the sabbath day

Water

Bitter water

God

Food

Water

Intro

Water Provided

but bitter

Manna and quail

Water provided