[8:00 a.m.] Questioning God (Exodus 15:22-26, 16:1-4, 17:1-7)

We're looking at the experience of God, leading his people out

of Egyptian, bondage through the Wilderness and into the promised

land. These are the stories that are

found the narratives that are found in the books of Exodus

Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy in the Old

Testament, the books of the law of Moses.

We're in chapter 15. The people have just crossed the

Red Sea. They just engaged in a great

worship service and praise and Thanksgiving to God with the

song of Moses. And now there are as listed in

your bulletin three episodes. We're just going to look at two

of them from chapters 15 and 16 here.

Now, 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 Morrow. They could not drink the water

Morrow, because it was bitter. Therefore, it was named

tomorrow. 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.

They're 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 in 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 elim, Where there

were twelve Springs of water and 70 palm trees, and they encamped

there by the water. They set out from elim and all

the congregation of the people of Israel came to the Wilderness

of Zin, which is between elim and Sinai on the 15th day of the

second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.

And the whole Congregation of the people of Israel grumbled

against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and the people of

Israel said to them would that we had died by the hand of the

Lord in the land of Egypt. When we set by the meat pots and

we ate bread to the full For you, have brought us out into

the Wilderness to kill this, whole assembly with Hunger.

Then the Lord said to Moses behold, I'm about to rain bread

from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a

day's portion, every day, that I may test them whether they will

walk in my law or not, the word of the Lord, you may be seated.

two episodes in the life of Israel quite early in their

Journey, actually the trip from the Red Sea over to the plains

of Moab and the east side of the Jordan, Shouldn't have taken,

but a few days. It wasn't that much of a

distance. It took them 40 years.

And the reason it took them 40 years.

The Bible tells us in the New Testament is because that they

did not believe and trust their God.

They did not pursue their goal and they're calling by faith.

and the overall upshot is that that whole generation who are

adults and heads of households when they left Egypt, Never

entered the promised land. In fact, it was only those who

were about 20 years old and younger Who then grew up in the

wilderness and the desert in made it into their 30s and about

40 or so that generation made it into the promised land under the

leadership of Joshua. That's the overall sketch of

what. Transpired the Wilderness story

is told in the Book of Numbers. In fact, more of this material

is given to us in the book of numbers and then there's an

analysis of it, by Moses in the book of Deuteronomy.

These things were truly written for our example.

What was God doing with this people that he had rescued and

saved by Mighty hand out of Egypt?

And now he's bringing them into the promised land, but before

they get to the promised land, they spend this time in the

wilderness, and they would not have needed to spend that time

in the wilderness, if it had not been for their spiritual

condition I don't know if I was a preacher.

I'd probably stop here a little bit and talk about how most of

our Wilderness experiences come because we are the way we are.

It's for our Rebellion, it's for our lack of faith.

It's our sinful Condition. It's our refusal to know.

The word of God. It is our own choices that put

us into our predicaments. And that keep us from that,

great blessing, that land of milk and honey that the Lord has

prepared for us. We really have no one to blame,

but ourselves. So, guess what we do?

We blame somebody else. And that's exactly what the

people did here. It says in the text that they

grumbled and there are other instances, in fact, it gets

worse down the road. We want to anticipate too much

but down the road they go beyond grumbling and complaining and

quarreling they go to full out armed Rebellion against God and

against his ordained leadership, that is Moses and Aaron so it

gets worse. If I was a preacher, I would

suggest to you that the longer you stay in the wilderness that

is in your backslidden condition.

The worse, it's going to be for you sins.

Going to always hold you longer than you want to be held.

It's going to take you further than you want to go, and it's

going to cost you more than you want to pay.

That's what sin does in our lives.

And so the recount here over and over is how the people were in a

spiritual condition. That's why the Lord from the

very beginning, does wonderful miracles for them saves and

rescues them to be sure, sustains them in every way.

And yet, they still complain. Notice that in both of these

stories, the people Grumble and complain.

And they realize that it's the Lord, that's going to be the one

that's in charge of their Destiny.

It's the Lord that's going to determine whether they live or

die. They just complain in, like, it

would have been better if the Lord of left us back there in

Egypt where we could sit by the meat pots and enjoy a good meal,

that another place they talked about the onions and the in the

cloves And all of the spices of Egypt that spiced up their food,

that is when they were finally eating nothing but Manna and

quail for year after year, after year, it have been better back

then to just gone ahead and let us stay in slavery.

But the Lord tests. He tries.

He puts things before us. He leads us in rough patches.

By his good and Provident hand to do something to us knowing

that that kind of test. Authenticate.

It's the fiery trial of the Furnace that purges the dross

and produces the pure metal of silver and gold, and God starts

working with his people from the very beginning.

And that's what we see here in these two episodes, they're very

similar. And they occurred just a few

days apart. The first one was, they ran out

of water. You can't carry a whole lot of

water with you wherever you go. You Need a water source of water

supply, so the canteens were empty.

The barrels were empty and they were beginning with they and

their livestock were beginning to thirst and to thirst.

Rather seriously and so they complain to Moses.

And when they got to a water source, the water was bitter.

Actually, the water was poisonous.

It was an unhealthy water. It was a German

bacteria-infested water supply. and that's why the Lord promised

him that he was not going to let them have any of the diseases

that they had had back in Egypt and that the Egyptians had been

Afflicted with Lord is beginning here to lay the groundwork for

the health Law's and he's going to give them many of them having

to do with nothing more basic than good hydration and good

hygiene. He's going to teach his people

what they need to know, but they got to this first water supply

and it was bitter. It was ruined, it was spoiled.

There was death in these cisterns.

And the interesting thing is, the lord gave Moses a remedy.

The Lord's going to teach Moses, how to do all kinds of the he's

already worked with him on the staff and the snake and, you

know, all the things that happened back there in the

wilderness when the Lord first called him.

And then when he went down into Egypt, before Pharaoh crossing

the Red Sea, with the, with the, the staff of the Lord, the

Lord's teaching him, some things is going to be necessary for

their actual survival. He's going to have to take a

water supply, which is death. And turn it into the water of

life. And I can't help it.

But I studied a little bit how to interpret the Bible in

seminary and they didn't teach me this.

And I'm not trying to say this is how you interpret that but I

like some of the old fathers of the church where they saw, what

the Lord did was he showed Moses a tree, And it was a tree that

made the difference. It was a tree, put into the

cisterns, the broken cisterns of death, and brought them to life

and made them Sweet Water. Good water, pure water, clean

water, drinkable water, Living Water.

And this of course is a picture of Christ and what the Lord did

was to establish his law word. Listen to what the Lord himself

says and the Lord their the Lord made for them a statute and a

rule here God establishes a principle by doing this miracle

and bringing them the Water of Life there.

He tested them saying if if you will diligently.

Into the voice of the Lord, your God.

Listen to me the Lord says and the Lord never quit.

Saying that with the disciples surrounding Jesus on the Mount

of transfiguration. The Lord.

God said, this is my beloved Son.

Hear him. We have to listen to the voice

of the Lord. If there is to be any life in

his spiritual life in us. And this is the rule.

That was established that day. If you will diligently, listen

to the voice of the Lord. Your God do that, which is right

in his eyes. The words there's action.

You've got to do something. You've got to do something

that's right. You got to do something.

That's right in the sight of the Lord.

It's too straight to do that, which is right in your own eyes.

The sad condition of Israel in a few hundred years would be that

every man did what was right in his own eyes.

And there was no rule, no statute, No Authority, no king

in Israel, in those days. God Rules by his law word, and

we are to pay attention to it. And we have slipped so far in so

many of our churches, by preaching a gospel of free

Grace, which is a good gospel, because the gospel is absolutely

a truth of the free grace of God.

Given by the father by the sun, coming most willingly, and most

enthusiastically poured out in our Solar.

Souls by the Holy Spirit, the whole Triune God saving us.

Free gospel. Good gospel.

True gospel. A faithful, God, rescuing and

saving and redeeming calling to himself an Unfaithful people.

That's the way God's always work.

I said, well, he's had to work. That's the way he worked in the

days of old, that's how he works today.

He's a faithful, God, and he has to work.

Always with an Unfaithful people, but he's laying down the

principal here. Listen to the voice of the Lord.

Your God do that, which is right in his eyes.

Not in our own eyes, not in the eyes of society.

But in the eyes of the Lord, give ear to his Commandments.

And keep all his statutes and the Lord promises.

The end that kind of obedience that kind of diligence in trying

to please the Lord and walking with the Lord and following his

ways does not save us but it puts us in the place of bliss in

the place of health and prosperity.

None of the disease has come upon us.

If you keep the law of God, you stay away from the filth of sin.

You stay away from the pollution in the sickening garbage of our

sin sick perverse Society. The Lord calls his people to a

Holiness, which means separate and clean.

Those are the two key ideas of Holiness.

In this portion of scripture, God, calls his people to that.

You'll have none of these diseases and I don't think this

is in your text printed there, but I couldn't miss it.

It's one of my other best verses in the whole Bible number 27.

Then they came to elim where there were twelve Springs of

water. And seventy palm trees.

That's an oasis. Twelve Springs of water, not

just one twelve Springs of water, one for each tribe, one

for each big clan in Israel. They had them all in 70 palm

trees. It was 70 Souls.

You remember with Joseph and the brothers that went down into

Egypt to start with and now when the Lord brings them out, he

brings them to a place where they have that kind of abundance

representing the souls that now have grown into a nation in

their becoming God's people. Now, they haven't got to Mount

Sinai. You have tears, there very early

in their Journey. Let's look at the second thing

real quickly. That happened here.

And then they set out. Oh man, I thought I would have

hated to break Camp if I was at a place where they were twelve

Springs of water and all the palm trees and all of that, I

would sure hate to start pitching my tent and pulling it

down and pulling up the staves and the chords and getting ready

to move on out of there. I think I'd want to stay there

forever but that wasn't the promised land and was just a

nice place in the desert. God's moving them to the

promised land. Sometimes, I think we're just

happy with a nice place in the desert.

Give me just a little place here, where I got some comfort

where I've got some blessing. Nothing wrong with that.

The Lord leads us in Green Pastures and by Still Waters,

But he also leads us through the valley of the shadow of death.

And that's what the Lord's doing.

He's moving his people on. You can't stay just in one

place. You got to move along.

And as you move along, they set out then and they're on their

way across the desert. And the whole congregation

grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

And this is what the people said would that we have died by the

hand of the Lord, in the land of Egypt, where we set by the meet

pots and ate bread to the full for you have brought us out into

this. Wilderness to kill the whole

assembly with hunger. Notice, they're blaming God.

God's the one that's going to kill them with famine.

Then better that it just stayed back in Israel.

I'm back in Egypt and starved but now they're out there in the

wilderness and they're hungry. And they're starting to realize

that they've run out of food and they're going to die.

And so they start grumbling and complaining against Moses.

And this is what Moses does. Moses calls upon the Lord.

And this is what the Lord tells him, then Moses.

The Lord said, to Moses behold, I'm about to rain bread from

heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a day's

portion every day. Why that I may test them whether

they will walk in my law or not. Did you ever notice that in

Scripture that the giving of the Manna?

And by the way, isn't it beautiful?

How the Lord puts his here? I'm going to rain down minor

bread from Heaven. This is the precise language

that Jesus used. When he fed the 5000 out there,

starving hungry. And he said, I am the bread of

life. I am the man of the bread of

life. What come Down from heaven.

You have no salvation without Christ, there's no deliverance

from The Thirst without the cross.

And there's no deliverance from the famine without the bread of

life. The Lord takes care of his

people, he provides for them, but God had a test in it.

Listen to what they'll be told later on over here in

Deuteronomy. the Lord says, I tested the and caused the to

hunger. That thou mayest know that man

does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds

out of the mouth of God, did you realize that what the Lord did

giving them? Manna was testing to see if they

were going to pay attention to the words that came out of the

Lord's mouth that he wasn't just about them eating something that

enabled them. I'm to survive physically, it

was whether or not they were going to be the kind of people.

They were going to feast and feed upon the bread of life, the

word of the Lord, loving him, and keeping his Commandments

walking walking in his ways. Where are we?

Where are we? In our Christian Life.

Are we receiving from the Lord? The Salvation that he is offered

by grace? In other words, have we come out

of Egypt and we sacrificed and believed in that provision, that

is The Paschal Lamb. Had we come through the Red Sea

and we see the victory, a great Mighty Victory.

Have we stood still and seen the power of the Lord in our life.

Some of you don't believe in the Lord because you've never seen

the Lord do anything for you. Your eyes are so blind.

You can't see the hand of the Lord.

It work in the land of the living. but some of you have,

And the Lord manifests himself and the eye of Faith, detects

it. And the Heart.

Delights it The Water of Life, the bread of life, the words of

life from the very life himself in him is life.

Can we commend to you today? Jesus Christ.

Can we call upon you, to forsake your sin and to turn from your

sin and to turn to him in faith? Come to him, as he is offered in

the gospel. and then with the family of God, Feast upon him in

the supper,