{"id":19634,"date":"2022-01-05T22:00:12","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T05:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/exodus-15_1-18-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-01-02T16:08:53","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T23:08:53","slug":"exodus-15_19-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/exodus-15_19-27\/","title":{"rendered":"From Bitter to Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exodus 15:19-27\u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

There are so many good lessons we can learn from today\u2019s passage, Exodus 15:19-27.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Exodus 15:19 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 19:\u00a0\u00a0The Israelites were looking just to escape the Egyptians, but God was looking to defeat them completely.\u00a0\u00a0That way the Israelites would never have to worry about ever being enslaved by the Egyptians again.<\/p>\n

God did the same when Jesus died on the cross and rose again.\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s goal was not simply to help us escape the clutches of sin and death.\u00a0\u00a0God wanted to defeat sin and death completely so that sin and death would no longer control us.\u00a0\u00a0God didn\u2019t just provide a temporary escape.\u00a0\u00a0He provided a permanent victory.<\/p>\n

Exodus 15:20-21 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the\u00a0LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 20-21:\u00a0\u00a0Arguably the first worship leader ever recorded in the Bible was Miriam.\u00a0\u00a0Miriam takes a tambourine in her hand and begins to give God praise through singing and dancing, and all the women join her.\u00a0\u00a0It goes to show that being a worship leader is less about having a full band and perfect technical ability and so much more about worshiping God in such a way that it inspires others to do the same.<\/p>\n

Also notice this:\u00a0\u00a0Miriam isn\u2019t just singing to God, but \u201cto them\u201d (v21), i.e. the Israelites.\u00a0\u00a0Miriam was communicating who God is to the people through her song.\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps it\u2019s because of this that Moses calls Miriam a \u201cprophetess\u201d.<\/p>\n

Exodus 15:22 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 22:\u00a0\u00a0By the Red Sea the Israelites celebrated how God saved them, but they couldn\u2019t stay by the Red Sea.\u00a0\u00a0They had to move on.\u00a0\u00a0And on they went to the Desert of Shur where they would be looking for water for three days and not finding any.\u00a0\u00a0You can be \u201cShur\u201d of this:\u00a0\u00a0after God saves you, God will eventually allow you to go through \u201cdesert times\u201d when your faith will be tested. (As the end of verse 25 says, \u201che tested them\u201d.)\u00a0\u00a0God does this not to play games, but to strengthen your faith and your character.\u00a0\u00a0For God\u2019s final goal is not just to save you but to make you more like His Son Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0God knows that a certain amount of pressure and difficulty is necessary if you want to grow spiritual muscles.\u00a0\u00a0That is one of God\u2019s main reasons for allowing pressure and difficulty in your life: He\u2019s training you to grow in your faith and character.<\/p>\n

Exodus 15:23-24 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.)
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 23-24:\u00a0\u00a0No doubt the journey God would have the Israelites go on was not easy.\u00a0\u00a0On the difficult parts of the journey, the Israelites would often resort to grumbling against God and against their God-given leader Moses.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But did their difficult circumstances make the Israelites bitter, or did their difficult circumstances simply reveal the Israelites\u2019 own pre-existing weaknesses and immaturity?<\/p>\n

Pastor Jon Courson puts it this way:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPeople do not make us bitter. Situations do not make us bitter. They simply show us what is already within us. I know this because, looking at Jesus, I see that, although He was spat upon, cursed at, and nailed to a cross, He said, \u2018Father forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing\u2019 (Luke 23:34). No bitterness came out of Him because there was no bitterness within Him.\u201d (quoted from Courson, Jon.\u00a0Jon Courson’s Application Commentary \u2013 Jon Courson’s Application Commentary Old Testament Volume 1<\/em>. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005. WORDsearch<\/em>\u00a0CROSS e-book.)<\/p>\n

With that in mind, whenever we encounter difficult situations and as a result notice ourselves acting in ways that are not so mature or Christ-like, may it cause us to humble ourselves before God and ask Him to change us from the inside out.<\/p>\n

Exodus 15:25 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Moses cried out to the\u00a0LORD, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the\u00a0LORD\u00a0made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 25:\u00a0\u00a0This difficult road that the Israelites were on was also punctuated by incredible miracles whenever Moses would cry out to God.\u00a0\u00a0Moses cries out to the LORD.\u00a0\u00a0The LORD shows Moses a piece of wood, which Moses throws into the water and somehow by that the water becomes sweet and drinkable.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In especially difficult circumstances, like Moses be quick to go to God and ask Him for wisdom about what to do.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0See your difficult circumstances as an opportunity for God to show His power.
\n–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You may have encountered bitter waters in your life \u2013 painful, hurtful experiences that affect you to this day.\u00a0\u00a0Just as Moses applying a piece of wood to bitter waters miraculously made the bitter waters sweet, so when you apply the cross of Jesus Christ to your bitter situation, you find a way to make that bitter situation better.\u00a0\u00a0When you remember that at the cross Jesus Christ fully paid for all the ways that others have hurt you (not to mention all the ways you have hurt others), you can start to take a bitter situation and make it better.<\/p>\n

Exodus 15:26 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the\u00a0LORD, who heals you.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 26:\u00a0\u00a0Here God makes a conditional promise:\u00a0\u00a0He promises that if the Israelites keep all His decrees, He will not bring upon them what He brought upon the Egyptians.\u00a0\u00a0He also calls Himself their healer.\u00a0\u00a0How could any of us ever keep all of God\u2019s decrees?\u00a0\u00a0We can\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0So are we doomed?\u00a0\u00a0No.\u00a0\u00a0In God\u2019s unconditional love for us, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to keep all of God\u2019s decrees on our behalf so that we could escape certain destruction from God\u2019s wrath and receive instead God\u2019s healing and blessing.<\/p>\n

Exodus 15:27 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 27:\u00a0\u00a0After a time at Mara (which means \u201cbitter\u201d), the Israelites reach Elim, a place with plenty of water (from 12 springs) and shade (from 70 palm trees).\u00a0\u00a0With God I often find that, after a time of painful testing or trial, there is usually a time of refreshing and restoration.\u00a0\u00a0So if you\u2019re going through your own desert of Shur or your own Mara right now, don\u2019t despair.\u00a0\u00a0Elim (God\u2019s refreshing\/restoration) is on its way.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that You are a God who both refines us and refreshes us.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You for those times when You test us to make us stronger.\u00a0\u00a0And thank You for those times when we can rest and be restored.\u00a0\u00a0By Your power please grow me in every way You want me to grow, and restore me in every possible way.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

There are so many good lessons we can learn from today\u2019s passage, Exodus 15:19-27.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Exodus 15:19 (NIV)
\n19\u00a0\u00a0When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.<\/p>\n

On verse 19:\u00a0\u00a0The Israelites were looking just to escape the Egyptians, but God was looking to defeat them completely.\u00a0\u00a0That way the Israelites would never have to worry about ever being enslaved by the Egyptians again.<\/p>\n

God did the same when Jesus died on the cross and rose again.\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s goal was not simply to help us escape the clutches of sin and death.\u00a0\u00a0God wanted to defeat sin and death completely so that sin and death would no longer control us.\u00a0\u00a0God didn\u2019t just provide a temporary escape.\u00a0\u00a0He provided a permanent victory.<\/p>\n

Exodus 15:20-21 (NIV)
\n20\u00a0\u00a0Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.
\n21\u00a0\u00a0Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the\u00a0LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19639,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19634"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19635,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19634\/revisions\/19635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}