I invite you to turn to the second book of the Bible this morning as we're continuing our study in the book of Exodus, and this morning we come to the Mara event, the waters of Mara, and that is in Exodus 15, a short section here, verses 22 through 27. We just looked last time at this great song of Moses and how this is sort of the prototype of all songs in the Bible. And I would encourage you, since we have such a struggle in the church today with music, the Lord has given us a song, the first song in the Bible that is to be the pattern. And I would encourage you to go back and listen to that. It will help you if you struggle with any music issues and song issues of what the Lord has put in place to teach us what song should be in the life of His church. Now we're looking immediately after this at them heading out into the wilderness and wilderness life. beginning. This is the word of the Lord. Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter. Therefore, it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, what shall we drink? 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, 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 then they came to elam where there were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees and they encamped there by the water may the lord bless the hearing of his word the way that the scriptures present the Christian life is as a giant test, a testing ground, a preparation in terms of the life of sanctification and the walk, the wilderness walk, is a preparation for the glory that is set out and set before us, held out for us. The Lord has told us this everywhere, especially you remember in the book of James, where the book of James opens and says, my brethren, you should Count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith, it produces patience. Let patience have its perfect work. That you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If we don't understand that the Lord is leading us in that way to test us, that He is constantly testing and trying us, we can become incredibly bitter. And even disillusioned and angry with people about life. And what God's intentions are in the moment of these testings. Think about what Israel needed to learn by the sea. That God is fighting for us. They didn't even understand that. They didn't even appreciate that. That the Lord would fight the battle and the Lord would win for them. And then of course as it goes on and we're learning now. Not only does he fight for us, but he is engaged and committed to sustain us, to provide for us, to love us. That is the intention this morning. The intention is to show the Lord's wonderful care in the life of his people and his desire to provide for them and sustain them in the wilderness way of life, the wilderness struggle. But that what we find initially is that he is putting these tests in front of his people intended to drive them to trust Him that He loves them and that they would learn the fundamental truth that the Apostle learned that Christ's grace is always sufficient regardless of the nature of the affliction or the nature of the test to which you have been subject. The Lord has told us through His servant that it's then in weakness that we are indeed strong. That His grace is sufficient for us. So that we should then boast in these tests. We should boast in what's going on. We should have a confidence that He's working all things to will and to do for His good pleasure. Enter the scene here this morning. And they are singing and dancing on the beach. That's a good beach scene, isn't it? They're all singing. They're all full of joy. What a moment as a nation in their history of understanding deliverance, understanding salvation. 400 years of bondage, 400 years of affliction, 400 years of whips. No more. Done. Over. No more bricks without straw. No more of the enemy having dominion over them. it's gone the lord has freed them the lord has set them free the shackles are broken prison is over the lord has just pummeled the strongest nation on the face of the earth for them what a ride that must have been they didn't do a thing they just were told stand still and see the salvation of the lord he reversed creation on that nation and then he took on their most powerful gods pummeling all of them with his plagues and then of course pharaoh who wore the snake on the crown here there they are him and his mighty chariots and horses the horse and the rider they have all been sunk into the sea and there the bodies float they break out in song i will sing unto the lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and the rider he has thrown, hurled out into the midst of the sea and sunk them like lead. The Lord is my strength and my song. He's become my salvation. He's my God and I will praise him. My Father's God and I will exalt him. What a moment. What a moment. In verse 22, we descend from those heights, The salvation at the beach to now wilderness life, it begins. We read there at verse 22, as they begin to set out, and they're going somewhere. Then Moses made Israel, set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. a vast, rugged, dense wilderness region that stretches from the eastern as it's designated from the eastern side of the Suez Canal to the Negev. Moses is intentionally brief here in recording this. We don't get far at all into the wilderness journey and right away, straight away, we read, they went three days into the wilderness and they found no water. Huh. I said in the prayer, we were traveling to classes, and all of a sudden I'm seeing loads of water. I mean, just a flood of water along the highway there in the pavement in L.A., thinking God could solve all this just like that. But here they are, no water, no water. Three days into the wilderness, no water. Now Moses had said before that they're going three days out in the wilderness to have a worship service, remember? Things really haven't gone according to expectation, have they? Hasn't been such a sweet ride already. The first scene of wilderness life, second verse, they are already in a life and death situation, already. Two million strong, no water. You stand back from that. You say, well, this is a reasonable need, isn't it? You're going to take out a nation in the wilderness. They've got to have water. It's a basic element for survival. You can only imagine three days into this, how many children were saying, Mom, Dad, I'm thirsty. This must be getting really hard. We're not going to make it. Imagine a mother. We're not going to make it much longer. Dehydration's beginning to set in. The other night I sat in worship when I didn't preach and my youngest says to me dad I want a glass of water I'm thirsty and I said no I was thinking the Israelites went three days without water so you can now say that to your children this was a real test right out of the gates three days gets worse verse 23 they look up into the distance and there they come to this place called Mara bitter it means they don't know that they walk up you could imagine them coming up to the waters of mara and they get down we've found water in the wilderness wow the lord has supplied water they get down they begin to put it to their mouths and it's bitter it tastes like minerals it's awful it tastes like the ocean whatever it was they couldn't drink it there sits a a body of water a cool body of water in this hot desert none and you're starting to realize this is a giant test you go three days you think the lord has provided water and all of a sudden what a discouragement isn't it it's completely bitter now i find this remarkable because in the previous scene they had come to the red sea another body of water and they found themselves backed up into a situation that they could not get out of god himself had backed them into that situation god had said stand still and see the salvation of the lord he had called them to faith to go forward but they had no ability to divide the sea they have no power to to overcome that particular situation and god fought for them and god heaped up the walls of the red sea so they pass through on dry ground in the first scene after salvation they're backed up against another body of water and they can't drink it you think well this is sort of a repeat another enemy has come at them it's the last enemy who's the last enemy death have no ability to deliver they have no ability to to find water and drink their babies being carried through the wilderness think of jesus now it's a really important at this point that we have a bigger theological picture which i've been trying to do as we work through the book of exodus and provide this that exodus is the story of salvation it's the central story in all of the scriptures remember the new testament speaks of christ's exodus at jerusalem and we looked at the bigger picture enslaved to our sin in bondage to our misery as children of adam we couldn't get out and so god sent his son the true israelite and he went down to egypt right at his birth remember so that it might be said and fulfilled, out of Egypt I have called my son to fulfill all righteousness for us. And just as Israel had the Passover and the blood of the pure lamb covered them, remember, from the wrath of the judgment that God had poured out on the Egyptians, so Christ, the New Testament says, is our Passover. He is. His blood propitiates the wrath of God against us. Just as Israel passed through the sea and came out victorious on the other side, so we have passed from death into life. We were buried with him and raised with him for our justification. We came out victorious on the other side of the grave and we rose together with him and are promised a glorious resurrection so that even paul could say in first corinthians that israel was baptized into the sea they were baptized into christ baptism is a sign and seal you know of being united to him in his death washed of our sins signifying that we have been raised with him just as israel passed through what did they do at that moment they sang the song of moses and that's why i wanted you to put it together last week with revelation that we're singing the song of the lamb the song of moses the song of the lamb that substance is the song of salvation that the lord has saved us and delivered us so that's the big picture here we've been delivered we've now been given new life but what happens what happens now that i've been saved washed forgiven justified united to christ you know now you're on a long arduous wilderness journey home we haven't understood that about the christian life israel's going into this into the wilderness in this journey facing death facing hardship facing attack chastisement and then they will enter the land of milk and honey then so if you put this in in the big theological picture this morning what happens to a christian once he has been saved in other words once he's been justified and raised with christ he begins the lifelong journey of sanctification. That's what it is. You've got it all mapped out here. You've got it all explained here. There's nothing easy about it. It's all preparation to enter this land. But sanctification is a pilgrim's journey. The New Testament, of course, speaks of this everywhere. You think of Peter. Beloved, I urge you as strangers and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against Saul. You're pilgrims. You're in a fight. The way to the promised land is through this barren wilderness. And that's precisely the tension that Israel experiences so soon as they head out into the wilderness. The tension is very real, living between now the already and the not yet. That's what this is. It's the tension of the already and not yet. Why do we have to understand that this morning? Well, this is really important because many people enter Christianity without any understanding of what it is. You remember the parable of the sower where Jesus said there are certain kinds of, when the kingdom is preached, certain kinds of hearers. And one of those hearers, when they receive the word, they immediately will receive it with joy. But when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, when things get hard because of the word, They are out. They're done. They came all on false pretenses. They came all with a false illusion of what Christianity is. The Lord's always told us this, that through much hardship and through much tribulation, you're going to enter the kingdom. That's wilderness journey. Without any understanding of that, without any appreciation of that, you are going to be disillusioned when these tests and trials come. so we have to understand that yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow of flowers right no death i'm walking through a valley of death home now i find this all very fascinating because we would expect that since deliverance has come everything would go well Everything would be easy. Things would be smooth sailing. But it's just the opposite. The wilderness is not home. It's not the land of milk and honey. It's not the Canaan that God promised. If I don't understand that, I'm setting my heart on making this my land of milk and honey. Understand that? You see, if I wanted to stop and pitch the tent permanently on the way, when I don't find water, I could get really disillusioned. When I don't realize that wilderness life is Mara, I'm setting myself up for major discouragement. Truth be told, many of us have tried to park here. Park in the wilderness, not living much as pilgrims or in anticipation of much of anything. that's what happens here with israel who is will uh circumstance driven they just got off the mountaintop they just got off the song of the sea experiences thirst and now everything becomes bitter so what do they do well that's verse 24 and the people verse 24 grumbled against moses saying, what shall we drink? I've already got a taste of this before when they were by the Red Sea and they shot out against Moses and they raged against Moses. They assaulted God through the leadership. Leadership's an easy target when things aren't going well in your life, of course. It's safer to lash out at those who simply represent God than God Himself. It's easier. When people are angry at the leadership, more often than not, they're extremely bitter at God. That's what it ultimately is exposing. Bitter at God. Think of how feeble we are. The last scene, we're dancing on the beach, and now three days later, look at the bitterness that has overcome. Israel had just been taught, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. He'll win the battle for you. He'll fight for you. Now they're tested, backed up against another body of water and the Lord, is he going to care for them? Is he going to provide for them? Can he provide for them? Does the Lord have the power to sustain us in the wilderness? That's the question. And the Lord is really teaching us something important right here initially out of the gates. What is all of this drawn out? I want you to listen to a statement I found by Calvin on this and I think it just captures it so powerfully. When you can't say something better yourself, you can use these things. Here it is. God might have given them sweet water to drink at first, but he wished by the bitter to make prominent the bitterness which lurked in their own hearts. That is spot on. You see what the Lord just did? Look at the bitterness of their hearts. Bitter. What has this test done? The mouth is the expression of the heart. This test has raised the issue not of the bitterness of the waters, but the bitterness of their hearts. Ultimately raging up against the Lord. So when backed up against another body of water, who's the real enemy here? I have met more people who get incredibly bitter over the way things are turning out and the way things are going. Here's the sad reality. It's exposing the bitterness of their hearts against the Lord. They don't trust Him. They're not going to Him. And their life becomes one giant moan and complaint and gossip. You could just go off the checklist of what they're bitter about. They're mad about their children. They're bitter about everything. It could be the waitress at the wet restaurant. Nothing but complaining dominates their life. This complaining theme is so prominent in Exodus. The whole way through, which is in the Pentateuch, the first five books, it's so prominent the whole way through. The Lord wanted us to use this as a giant teaching for us to understand it to understand the human heart to know what's going on so much so that that the the paul in the new testament used this as the key feature of what to warn us against remember when he said you should not complain as some of them complained and were destroyed by the destroyer all these things happened to them as examples and were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come why is this so ugly because israel after all that the lord had done for them saved them loved them was returning bitterness to him what should israel have done prayed this seems to be the logical thing that israel should have done got on their knees and asked the lord for water he's just promised to supply all their needs he had promised to care for them in the wilderness. Did He not just put on display that all of creation is His? Did He not put on display that He has the power to reverse all of creation? In the next chapter, He's going to rain down food on their doorsteps. Bread, manna. Did He not part the Red Sea for them? He's done everything so far. Did He not give you His best? Did He not give you His Son? Did He not love you so much that He gave you His Son to forgive you and love you and help you and encourage you? What little problem do you have in your wilderness way? What has made you bitter? What is it that's causing you to take your eyes off Christ? What's making you a miserable person? The greatest way you can be unthankful to the Lord for all He's done for you is complain about all your circumstances. It's the greatest way. If you want the greatest way, complain about this and that. Here's what it comes down to. You realize God is constantly testing you and backing you into situations. You have no power to control the outcome over. Constantly. You say, I don't see that, really. I was at my table with my children the other night and it dawned on me, I love my children incredibly. What am I constantly dealing with as a father? not just outward actions. We're constantly dealing with, as mom and dad, actions that we say, don't do that, don't do that. What we're ultimately dealing with in our own children are hearts that often are bitter. And in them, I see the bitterness of whose heart? My own. I can't save my children. I'm backed up. I can't do it. I'd love to reach in there and turn those hearts every way I want them to go. I'm constantly faced with this truth. I need Him to save me, and I need Him to deliver my children. And I'm stopped constantly at places of Mara, like you. Can you imagine if you viewed everything that happened in this life that has thrown you, that exposes the bitterness of our hearts, all of your conflict struggles. Can you imagine if you viewed everything that happens as God's test for you? Everything. The sad irony is they could no longer look up. Who is in front of them? Well, there was a massive cloud. There was the Spirit guiding them, the Lord of glory resting upon them. They had taken their eyes off of Christ. And that bitterness ultimately then is not in the waters. It's the bitterness that resides in us. One pastor replied it this way. Many Christians complain about little things. We don't like the way the ministry is being handled. Or we disagree with something in worship. Or we have a problem with one of our spiritual leaders. So we grumble. That's just common. The Lord is showing us here. He's pulling back the veil. And He's teaching us to trust Him. they should have cast their cares upon him instead of being bitter. They should have cast their cares. The Proverbs say, lean not on your own understanding in all your ways, acknowledge him. He'll direct and provide. So you see, the wilderness is undoubtedly to bring hardship. You have to understand that. That is wilderness life. It's a valley of the shadow of death with disappointments, with frustrations, at times with major letdowns, things to which you have no answer. All of these things the Lord has led us there so that we would come to him and trust him and expose the reality of the heart. What happens in this glorious section? The Lord is so good. Moses, he tells Moses, Moses goes and he prays, representing for Israel. The Lord shows him a tree. And he says, I want you to take that log and I want you to cast it into the waters. And as he did that in front of Israel, hurled it into the waters, the whole thing became sweet. It's what they could drink. How good is the Lord? Have we learned it yet? This was the basis from which the Lord instructed Christ in the Gospels, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, Will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry. You don't have that option. You have a God who cares for you. What shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? The Gentiles do that stuff. Your heavenly Father knows what you need. You seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. I'll take care of all those other things. I'll add them to you. Israel needed to trust the Lord that he had the power to provide for them in the wilderness. Now, how do you get people to humble themselves? We have seen in Exodus, this is the crucial point this morning, we have seen in Exodus nothing but grace unfold. Nothing but. I mean, look at all he's done. Look at all he's been. Had Israel appreciated anything? What, do they think they deserved it? Answer, nothing. Grace is really only appreciated when there's an understanding of how unworthy you are to receive it. Why has that been a problem? Because there's been no standard for them to understand this. There's been no rule to expose this. In other words, remember what Paul said, I would not have known what I was like unless the law had said don't do this i would never have known covetousness unless the law had said thou shall not covet rich young ruler and that leads me to the question what did all of this expose was lacking in the relationship as israel being sinners and god being holy what was lacking now they had come out of egypt they hated pharaoh could they continue to hate Yahweh this way? At this point, there's something the Lord does and I want us to close with this to think about it clearly. He puts Israel, He begins to put Israel under a test. A major test. Look at verse 25. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule and there He tested them 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. It's been observed, and I think this is absolutely correct. There are two phases of these complaint episodes in Israel's relationship with the Lord. Follow me on this for a minute. In the first phase of complaints, they complain about basic necessities of life that the Lord knows they needed, water, food. They complain against the Lord and the Lord graciously supplies it. These gracious responses happen before Sinai and the golden calf. In phase two of their complaining, Typically after Sinai, you don't have the complaining for basic necessities so much anymore as you have open rebellion against the Lord. And then God exercises His wrath. Right here, God puts forth the statute. What is it? If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and give ear to all His commandments, they're coming. That's what Sinai is leading up to. It's going to go well for you. Not, curses will fall. This is all in anticipation of this major worship service that is about to happen at Sinai. In these situations between Exodus and Sinai, gracious response is from the Lord. Gracious. Sinai comes, and what happens? They don't even get out of the mountain area before they're worshiping a golden calf in rebellion as Yahweh. What was the intention? The intention is to teach them what Paul says. Israel would be put under the law to stop the mouth of everyone. Why? To show everyone what's going on in people's hearts. That they don't love the Lord their God or their neighbor. They can't just treat Yahweh this way. He is their king. He is holy. How will they relate to Him with bitter hearts? That's the question. So He begins to introduce the greatest test. I'm putting before you my commandments. What statute is He beginning to introduce right here? One great rule, will they live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord? Will they trust his word and love him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength? He's preparing Israel for the law. You see what he's doing. And Paul tells us by the law is the knowledge of what? Sin. They have not understood this. they have not got this. He's establishing the bounds now of their relationship. Are they going to relate to him on the basis of law or grace? He's shown grace. He's taught us grace because the Abrahamic covenant, whatever he's about to do, it could not annul what God had done with Abraham in the covenant of grace. He's been showing us grace the whole way through. But they have had no sense of their sin. So the goal is They've got to come to him with childlike faith, trusting in the promises and understanding what he's doing. Are they trying to do this themselves or are they trusting in Christ to save them? The testing of the law faced them with that question. Are they trying to do this themselves or are they trusting in the Lord to save them? You're either going to try to go through this in your life your way and you're going to be an incredibly bitter person. Oh man, you're going to be a bitter person. Angry, angry, angry. And a Pharisee. Or you're going to look at everything as tests and you're going to drop the knee and you're going to ask, verse 26, Lord, would you be my healer? Did you see that? Would you be my healer? I need to be healed. When you open the Gospels, what is the first thing that the Gospels want to make clear to us about Jesus' ministry? He was cast out into the wilderness from Egypt. And as he goes out into the wilderness, the tempter came to him. A great test was put before him. He had a need, a basic need. He hadn't eaten in 40 days. Notice how bread and water in the next section is bread with the manna from heaven. and the tempter comes and says, turn the stones to bread. Do it against God's will. You need to eat. In all those temptations, what was the driving answer that the Lord gave? You shouldn't test the Lord. He also said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. He was entered into the wilderness. To fulfill all righteousness. And as He goes into the wilderness and overcomes and then completes salvation for us, He wants us to rest in Him. He's the healer of the bitter hearts that reside in us. And wants us the whole way through when we're tried and we're tested to bow the knee in deep reliance upon Him and His grace to deliver us, to provide for us, to save us, and to understand. Not only did He fight the battle at the cross for us and won, but He's committed the whole way to care for us and supply our every need in Christ Jesus, Paul said. And after this life of struggle, then you enter into glory. And that's the final picture here. In verse 27, you have a sort of promise Then they came to Elam, where there were 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees. They entered Palm Springs. And let me tell you, they camped there by the water, and it was wonderful. Elam was the place of abundance. 12 wells, one for each tribe, 70 palm trees. The elders of Israel, they all understood. we have now entered into god's blessing and fullness it was it was a a shadow of what is to come that's where we're headed you see but first the lord prepares us but first the lord tries and tests us first the lord deals with the bitterness in our own hearts jesus said if anyone thirsts what should he do? He should come to him and drink. He who believes in Jesus Christ, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. The Lord is committed to care for you and to keep you. Trust him today. Cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you. And confess the bitterness of our hearts. The Lord will never despise anyone who comes to Him with a broken and contrite heart. Let's pray to Him. Gracious Heavenly Father, You are so wonderful to us to teach us and to train us in righteousness, but also to confront us about sin. It'd be a terrible thing that we could come and worship and be angry at You and leaders and never worship You in spirit and in truth, never confessing the bitterness of our own hearts. This morning, we all confess it. We bow the head and we confess we're bitter. We've been bitter at leaders. We've been bitter at our circumstances. Been bitter at this and that. And it's expressed itself in our lips of gossip and complaining. Please forgive us for these sins. And we look to you, Lord, to be our healer. And we ask that all of our righteousness would be found in Christ as we trust you to take us home. Give us joy in the heart so that as Paul said, we will rejoice in every single circumstance. Again, I say rejoice and give us contentment. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Thank you, Lord, for hearing us this morning. And thank you for training us and bringing us to Christ. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.