Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Exodus 15:26; John 5:1-9

Theme: God, in Christ, can see through the mass of humanity into the individual human life and heal that life and make the person whole in body, mind, spirit, and soul.

Date: 05/22/2022 File: KnowingGodByHisNames_05.wpd File #: OT02-26

Some years ago, Bruce Larson, pastor of University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Washington, wrote a book entitled, There's a Lot More to Health than not Being Sick.

I bought the book because the title intrigued me.

His basic premise is that wellness or wholeness has very little to do with not being ill.

If a doctor could cure every disease in your body, there would still be those individuals who would display symptoms of a physical illness.

In a recent survey the American Medical Association asked several thousand general practitioners across the country this question, "What percentage of people that you see in a week have needs that you are qualified to treat with your medical skills?"

The average was 10%!

In other words, doctors admit that 90% of the people who come to see them have no medically treatable problem!

Yes, their patients have real symptoms and real pain, but it is not caused by and physical ailment.

Doctors are discovering afresh that men and women are spiritual being and not just physical bodies.

They are also finding out that the most important medicines available to the sick are hope, faith and love.

We have a God who is vitally concerned about our health.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us, "For we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities . .

."

God is touched by our infirmities our tears, our hurts and our broken hearts.

I. OUR GOD IS JEHOVAH-RAPHA — The Lord our Healer

1. we first encounter this name for God in the Book of Exodus

“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, 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 15:25–26, ESV)

2. God has worked powerfully in the lives of His people

a.

He heard their cries while slaves in Egypt and raised up Moses and Aaron to lead them out

1) He sent plagues upon the Egyptians which ultimately led to freedom for the Hebrew people, and their exodus from the country

b. but once the Hebrews were gone, Pharaoh regrets letting them go and has his army pursue them

“And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.

9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly.

And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.”

(Exodus 14:8–10, ESV)

1) with their backs literally to the sea, God performs perhaps the greatest miracle in Israel’s history and the people pass safely to the other side, but when the Egyptians charioteers attempt to follow, the sea closes in and the Egyptian army drowns

3. the miracle brings great rejoicing

a. Moses sings a song to the glory of God — Exodus 15:1-18

1) the entire song is summed up in vs. 11

““Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods?

Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11, ESV)

b.

Miriam, Moses’ sister, leads the Hebrew women in a victory dance, and echos her brother’s song with a worship chorus

“And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”” (Exodus 15:21, ESV)

4. everything is looking good for the Hebrews, but things can change quickly in life

a. after three days journey in the Desert of Shur, the Israelites were in desperate need of water

1) Shur is a part of the Arabian desert, and one of the driest places on earth

b. they finally discover a large spring, but the water was unfit to drink

1) they named it Mahra — meaning bitterness

2) the name not only describes the quality of the water, but the state of their emotional disposition — bitter

5. God miraculously cleansed the water by instructing Moses to throw a tree branch into the water

a. it is at this point that God reveals a part of His character to His people when He reveals His identity in a name — for I am Jehovah-Rapha

6. the text teaches three things

A. THE UNFAILING PROVIDENCE OF GOD

1. it was God who led them to this place of bitterness — they are not there by mistake or by happenstance, or because Moses got lost

a. three days earlier these people are celebrating Jehovah as our true God ... our glorious God ... our wonderful, majestic God ... who is God forever

b. three days later they are griping, grousing, complaining, murmuring, criticizing, carping and finding fault

c. up until that point they had not sinned ... up until their murmuring they had been in the center of God’s will ... and shortly God is going to perform a miracle that will reveal something new about his character

2. the people of Israel were right where God wanted them to be

a. in God’s unfailing providence He often leads His people to a place of bitterness

1) don’t get the idea that because you’re a Christian you’ll never experience difficulty in the way and disappointment in the destination

b. but also know that God may providentially lead you to a place of bitterness so that you may discover His goodness, and something new about His character

B. THE UNKNOWN PURPOSE OF GOD

1. why did God bring them to this place?

a. the answer is found in the second half of Exodus 15:25 — “There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved [tested] them.”

2. God providentially brought them to Mahra to test them — the wilderness would be God’s proving ground for the Hebrews

ILLUS.

When the Ford people, the General Motors people, and the Chrysler people build an automobile, what do they do?

They put that automobile out on the proving ground.

They drive it over those rough roads and potholes.

They drive it through water; and they drive it in heat; and they drive it through all of these things — hundreds of miles — screeching, turning, twisting, jamming on the breaks, and spinning it around.

They want to see, can this vehicle stand the test?

Is it safe for the road?

They’re proving the automobile.

They’re testing the automobile.

3. God, unknown to them, was testing them

a. our God is a strange teacher

1) He often gives the test first and the lesson afterwards

b. and that’s what He is doing with these people

1) He gave them a test

2) unfortunately they failed it miserably

c. they failed the test by murmuring when trouble came

1) could it be, might it be possible, that God providentially use COVID to test a lot of believers throughout the entire world?

4. God is not going to test us in the good times

ILLUS.

Adrian Rogers writes, “Anybody can serve God in the sunshine.”

a. that’s what we see happening immediately after their deliverance at the Red Sea — they’re shouting, dancing and singing

b. but when life becomes difficult is often the time when God tests our faith and our faithfulness

1) the test is not how we behave when victory and blessings are filling our lives

2) the text comes when God leads us to a Marah

c. the question is will we murmur against the Lord, or will we magnify the Lord?

C. THE UNSEEN PROVISIONS OF GOD

1. God shows Moses a tree — how appropriate

a. if you don’t know it, this is a picture of the healing cross of Christ

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—” (Galatians 3:13, ESV)

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

By his wounds you have been healed.”

(1 Peter 2:24, ESV)

b. many Bibles translate the word in vs. 25 as log or piece of wood, but the NASB and KJV translate it more correctly as a tree

1) God brings Moses to a tree that he then has to cut down and throw it into the spring branch

2) when he is obedient God turns the bitter water into sweet water and everyone is blessed

2. ultimately, the cross is where our bitterness is made sweet

ILLUS.

When I came to Christ, God had to first bring me to a place of bitterness.