Cure for Grumbling: The Tree That Sweetens Bitter Waters

Good morning, everyone. We are in the book of Exodus, chapter 15, verses 22 to 27 today.

Exodus 15:22–27

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sean. I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church.

It's my joy and privilege to preach God's Word to you this morning.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father, we live in a world that is full of bitterness.

The bitterness of sin, sickness, death.

But we pray that this morning you would help us to see and experience the sweetness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We humble ourselves before you, incline our ears and our hearts to you.

Speak, O Lord.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Please stand for the reading of God's Word, Exodus 15, verses 22 to 27.

Exodus 15:22–27

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 Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees,

and they encamped there by the water.

This is God's holy and authoritative Word.

Please be seated.

What a sudden change in tune from last week's passage to this week's passage.

The triumphant singing of Yahweh's glorious victory at the Red Sea over the Egyptians and Pharaoh,

and the jingling of tambourines at the Red Sea have given way now to the sound of grumbling

and murmuring among the people of God.

This 180 degrees turn in Israel's disposition occurred in a mere span of three days.

But that's how fickle we all are as human beings, isn't it?

We're like the wide-ranging and rapidly changing weather in New England.

I don't know if you remember, on the morning of Wednesday, February 16th, 2022,

we woke up to a frigid 14 degrees Fahrenheit while below freezing temperature.

But by the afternoon, on the very next day, Thursday, February 17th, we were at 59 degrees Fahrenheit.

You guys remember that?

It's t-shirt weather for most of us.

Cold on one day, hot on the next day.

We can go from fervently blessing God one day to cursing angrily our friends and family members

made in the likeness of God the next day.

We can go from raising our hands in praise to God to shaking our fists at God in protest.

But though Israel's attitude toward God fluctuates with their circumstances,

there is one constant that does not change through Israel's journey in the wilderness,

and that is the name of the Lord, Yahweh,

which contains in it the promise of his faithful presence, provision, and protection.

It means I will be with you.

I am who I am.

Like the immovable mountains and the earth beneath,

the Lord remains unchanged through the seasons,

the rain or shine or spring, summer, fall, winter, ups and downs.

And it's for this reason that this passage teaches us this morning,

that rather than grumbling against the Lord,

we should cry out to him in the bitterness of our souls,

for he is our healer.

So we're going to talk about the bitter water and the grumbling people

and the healing Lord in turn.

It says in verse 22,

Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea,

and they went into the wilderness of Shur.

So this is the only time in the Pentateuch,

which is the first five books of the Bible,

where the verb set out or lead out occurs in a causative form in Hebrew.

So Moses caused Israel to set out.

He made them set out.

It's almost as if the Israelites were too enraptured by their triumph at the Red Sea,

too high in the moment,

that they forgot that they still had the wilderness to cross into the Promised Land.

They were not in the Promised Land yet.

They still had a long way to go.

So Moses has to make them set out.

It would not be wrong to describe the crossing of the Red Sea

as a kind of a birth of the nation of Israel.

It's a new iteration of the people of God.

And 1 Corinthians 10, 1-2 tells us that it was a baptism into Moses.

That's when God's people were baptized into Moses.

It's a sign of the new birth, a new life for them in that era.

But after crossing the Red Sea on dry ground,

after coming out of, if I may use the language,

the birth canal of the Red Sea,

it's as if the Israelites are unaware

that they still have the rest of their lives to live in faith and obedience.

That they haven't reached the Promised Land yet

where they will dwell in the gracious presence of God under His rule.

Sometimes I think we Christians can be like that, too.

We have repented of our sins.

We have been baptized in water.

We have believed in Jesus for salvation.

We have made public profession of that faith.

But then, because we have been forgiven of our sins,

we have been washed of our guilt,

we celebrate that,

and then we turn around and act like we have crossed the finish line already.

Like the rest of our life is not there.

It's just a victory lap.

But no, that's not the case.

Baptism is the initiation,

not the culmination of the Christian life.

It is the beginning and not the end.

We have had several babies born in our church in recent months,

which is very happy.

And there's more on the way.

And it's right to celebrate the birth of the precious boy or girl

made in the image of God.

But that birth is only the beginning of the child's life.

There's still much growing and learning left for the child to do.

Likewise, when the Lord delivered Israel out of their slavery in Egypt,

he didn't stop by saying, let my people go.

He said, let my people go that they may serve me.

Israel has been freed.

They've been delivered from the pursuing Egyptian army through the Red Sea.

But now they must serve the Lord.

Now they must obey the Lord.

Now they must worship the Lord and journey with him into the promised land

while he will rule over them in his gracious way.

So let me ask you, my Christian brothers and sisters,

are you purposefully journeying toward the promised land

or are you wandering aimlessly in the wilderness?

Are you obeying the Lord?

Are you serving the Lord with your life?

Are you worshiping him?

That's why Moses leads Israel out of the Red Sea and from the Red Sea.

And of course we know from the rest of the book

that it's not ultimately Moses' direction,

but it's at the Lord's direction that Israel sets out

and goes into the wilderness of Shur.

And it says in verses 22 to 23,

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.

Think about how crucial bringing a bottle of water is

even on a half-day hike.

But the Israelites have been journeying in the wilderness for three days

in a desert climate, under the hot sun,

with dry sand beneath their feet.

People estimate that the Israelites have probably traveled

about 40 miles or so by this point.

And remember, this is not a trek of experienced hikers.

This is men and women, their children, and their livestock,

and they are carrying their luggage.

They get thirsty.

They consume a lot of water.

I imagine parents have heard a lot of,

Mom, Dad, I'm thirsty.

Can I have some water, please?

Probably on the first day, they were more generous.

Perhaps on the second day,

with no water in sight in the wilderness,

the heads of households begin rationing out the water more frugally.

Hey, you already had a sip 30 minutes ago.

You can't have another sip for another hour and a half.

Make sure you take a sip and no more,

just enough to wet your parched mouth.

Take care not to spill any of it because we don't have any we could waste.

And as the sun sets on another day and it rises,

on the next day, they start journeying again,

and their anxiety grows with each step

when they don't see any water on the horizon.

They don't see signs of any living things.

And then all of a sudden,

they hear people yelling that,

hey, there's water ahead.

This word is getting passed down from the front

that they have come across a body of water.

So people hasten their steps with fresh hope and expectation,

and some of them run,

and the fastest to reach the water,

they all greedily and impatiently

lapped the water onto their mouths,

and then, yuck,

you spit it all out.

It's bitter, brackish water.

It's not drinkable.

There are lakes in that region called the Bitter Lakes

precisely because of the minerals dissolved there,

the saline, you know,

the levels in the water,

it makes it brackish, not drinkable,

just like you can't drink ocean water.

And the name of the pool,

because of that, is named Marah,

which in Hebrew means bitter.

It's repeated three times,

Marah, Marah, Marah,

bitter in verse 23,

just to highlight how bitter that experience was

for the Israelites.

Just imagine being in their shoes.

And the word bitter, of course,

recalls Exodus 1, 13 to 14,

where it says that the Egyptians ruthlessly

made the people of Israel work as slaves

and made their lives bitter,

with hard service.

And as a perennial reminder

of their bitter slavery in Egypt,

the Lord commanded them to eat the Passover meal

with bitter herbs,

in Exodus 12, verse 8.

Exodus 12:8

So then Israel's experience

at the waters of Marah

is a reminder to them

of their bitter past.

They're reminded of Egypt.

And as they continue to face hardship

in the wilderness,

Israelites will, at some point,

boldly say

that they wish

they had never left Egypt.

They felt like

they were better off in Egypt.

They're not saying that

at this point yet,

but they're probably thinking it.

There's so much bitterness here, too,

outside of Egypt.

At least in Egypt,

we knew what to expect.

But here,

there's so much unknown.

We don't know

when we will get to water,

when we will reach

the promised land.

Maybe we shouldn't have left Egypt

in the first place.

Maybe there are recent converts here,

too,

young Christians

who are feeling

the same temptations

that Israel felt at Marah.

Maybe you're so preoccupied

with the bitterness

and the bitter circumstances

of your own lives

that now that your bitterness

of past slavery to sin

seems like a distant memory.

And you're wondering

whether or not

you made a mistake

in deciding to follow Jesus.

Perhaps you think

your life was more carefree

and pleasurable

without the discipline

of Christian obedience.

Maybe you don't want

to carry the cross of Jesus

for Christian discipleship.

Maybe you miss

your friendship with the world,

the affirmation

and acceptance

and approval

of this sinful world.

But don't let Satan fool you.

He is a cruel tyrant

while Jesus, our King,

is gracious and merciful,

gentle and lowly in heart.

In the movie,

I guess in the old,

really old movie now,

in the movie Braveheart,

the Scottish are enslaved

by the English

and William Wallace

leads the Scottish

to fight for their freedom

and in one scene

when trying to motivate

fearful Scottish soldiers

who are just overwhelmed

aside of the vastly

greater English army,

he says this famous line,

he says,

fight and you may die,

run and you'll live.

At least a while.

And dying in your beds

many years from now,

would you be willing

to trade all the days

from this day to that

for one chance,

just one chance

to come back here

and tell our enemies

that they may take our lives

but they'll never take

our freedom.

The day you become a Christian,

you become a target

of our spiritual enemy,

Satan.

He will oppose us

and he will sorely tempt us

because we follow

another prince,

another king.

But even though

there are struggles

and sufferings

that are peculiar

to the Christian,

to die free

in the Lord's service

is infinitely better

than to live

as slaves

to sin and Satan.

Psalm 8410 says,

for a day

in your courts

is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather

be a doorkeeper

in the house of my God

than dwell

in the tents of wickedness.

And there's a reason

why the Lord

brings Israel to Marah.

Verse 26 tells us

that this was

the Lord's way

of testing Israel.

Will they trust God

and continue

to listen to his voice

and do what is right

in God's eyes

and not what is right

in their own eyes?

And in the Christian life

also testing

often follows triumph.

The triumph of the Red Sea

is followed

by the trials

of Marah,

the test at Marah.

Similarly,

in Matthew 3,

we witness Jesus'

triumphant baptism

where the Holy Spirit

descends upon him

in likeness of a dove

and then the Father

speaks from heaven

saying,

this is my beloved Son

in whom I am

well pleased.

But then,

right after that baptism,

Jesus immediately says,

led into the wilderness

by the Spirit.

Why?

To be tempted

by the devil.

So,

testing follows triumph.

In 1 Corinthians 10,

after pointing out

that many of the Israelites

failed to pass

the test of God

in the wilderness

even after crossing

the Red Sea,

Paul writes in verses

11 and 13,

now these things

happened to them

as an example,

but they were written down

for our instruction

on whom the end

of the ages has come.

Therefore,

let anyone who thinks

that he stands

take heed

lest he fall.

No temptation

has overtaken you

that is not common

to man.

God is faithful

and he will not

let you be tempted

beyond your ability,

but with the temptation

he will also provide

a way of escape

that you may be able

to endure it.

The Lord himself

tempts no one

as James 1.13

says clearly,

but scripture also

often speaks of

the testing of our faith

that the Lord brings.

And that testing

of our faith

is intended to produce

steadfastness.

We are lured

into temptation

by our own sinful desires

and the devil

who tempts us,

but the Lord

does allow trials

in our lives

in order to test us.

And the difference

is this,

the devil tempts us

to make us fall.

He tempts us

to see our downfall.

The Lord tests us

to prove our faith,

to build us up,

to give us

greater assurance.

So 1 Peter 1.67

teaches us

that like gold

that is tested by fire,

various trials

in our lives,

test the genuineness

of our faith.

And each time

we pass the test

from the Lord,

we are more assured

of the genuineness

of our faith

and therefore also

more assured

of the eternal glory

that awaits us.

And that's why

the Lord is testing Israel

here,

not to make them fall,

but to build them up,

to prove the genuineness

of their faith.

And verse 24

tells us

how the Israelites

fared with the test.

It says,

and the people

grumbled against Moses

saying,

what shall we drink?

That's a passive-aggressive question.

It's plain to everybody there

that there's no water

to drink.

So why in the world

are they asking Moses,

what shall we drink?

It's not like Moses

can gargle some water

in his mouth

and then spit it out

like a bit of filter,

right?

Why are they questioning Moses?

What they're saying is this,

well,

Moses,

you brought us out here.

You must have

had some kind of plan,

right?

I don't know

if you realize yet

or not,

Moses,

but we are thirsty

and we can't go on

for much longer.

What are you going

to do about it?

But their grumbling

is not ultimately

against Moses either.

It's against the Lord.

In the next chapter,

we will see the Israelites

grumble again

against Moses

and Aaron

and this time

about not having

enough bread and meat

and Moses says to them

in verse 8,

the Lord has heard

your grumbling

that you grumble

against him.

What are we?

Your grumbling

is not against us

but against the Lord.

Why does Moses say this?

Because even though

Moses might be

immediately responsible

for leading the Israelites

out of Egypt

and out of the Red Sea

and into the wilderness,

he's not ultimately

responsible

because all this

is happening

under God's

sovereign guidance.

It was the Lord

who appointed Moses

to lead Israel.

It was the Lord

who sent Moses

into Egypt.

It was the Lord

who used Moses

to bring Israel

out into the wilderness

of Shur.

So even though

the Israelites

don't dare openly

to grumble

against God,

that is in reality

what they are doing.

And that's what

we often do also.

we grumble

against our president

because of inflation.

We grumble

against our boss

at work

for the long

hard hours.

We grumble

against our parents

or against

our spouses

at home.

But underneath it all

we are grumbling

against the Lord

because he is

ultimately in charge.

if you knew

how to rule

the universe better,

if you knew

what I really needed

God,

these things

wouldn't be

happening to me.

This is why

the Bible

considers grumbling

to be such a grave

sin.

In Jude 15

to 16

it speaks of the day

when the Lord

will return

to execute judgment.

It says,

on all

and to convict

all the ungodly

of all their deeds

of ungodliness

that they have committed

in such an ungodly way

and of all the harsh things

that ungodly sinners

have spoken against them.

That's a lot

of ungodliness.

And what do they have

in mind?

What is this great

ungodliness

that God's going to judge?

It says,

these are

grumblers,

malcontents,

following their own

sinful desires.

They are loud mouth

boasters

showing favoritism

to gain advantage.

Grumblers

and malcontents

had this list

of ungodly sinners

in Jude

who warrant

the judgment of God.

This is probably

surprising for many of us

because we don't tend

to think of grumbling

as a serious sin.

In fact,

in our society

grumbling is increasingly

seen in a positive light.

In a 2015 article

in the New Yorker

the editor

Josh Rothman

makes some astute

observations

about grumbling

that's even more relevant

in 2022

quote,

it's no surprise

that grumbling

has become

a central aspect

of online life.

If HTML

had a tag

how much of Facebook,

Twitter,

and especially Yelp

would be surrounded

by grumbling?

Tumblr too

might be renamed

grumbler.

Grumbling

being simultaneously

entertaining,

elevating,

competitive,

and social

is a natural fit

for the web

and the web

in turn

has enobled

grumbling.

In recent years

the web's culture

of mass grumbling

has produced

a new kind

of distributed

social critique.

This has lent

to grumbling

an aura

of dignity,

even virtue.

Grumbling is,

after all,

a form of resistance

and there are

few things

contemporary culture

values more

than the act

of resisting.

To grumble

is to elevate

ourselves

at the expense

of others

that we grumble

against.

At its heart,

grumbling

is rebellious

and seditious.

When people

murmur

and grumble,

it creates

an atmosphere

of resistance

and a quarrel

is not far

from breaking out.

This is not

to say that

we never

can lament

or pour out

our complaints

to God.

For example,

throughout the book

of Psalms,

the psalmist

often pours out

his complaint

and moans

before God.

And similarly,

Job cries out

to God

in Job 10,

Job 10:1

verse 1,

I will give

free utterance

to my complaint.

I will speak

in the bitterness

of my soul.

Like the Israelites

who have come

to the bitter waters

of Marah,

Job experienced

much bitterness

in his life

due to the trials

that the Lord

allowed in his life.

And Job did not

hold back.

He voiced

his complaints

and he cried

out to God

in the bitterness

of his soul.

But the Hebrew word

that is translated

here as complain

is not the same word

that's translated

as grumble

in our passage.

Apart from

one instance

in Joshua 9,

18,

the Hebrew word

for grumble

occurs exclusively

in the accounts

of Israel's journey

in the wilderness

in the book of Exodus,

in the book of Numbers.

The two words

grumble and complain

or grumble and moan

do not mean

the same thing.

Crying out to God

with your complaints

is not the same thing

as grumbling

against God.

Moaning in your grief

and pain

is not the same thing

as murmuring

in prideful resistance

and rebellion.

Do you see the difference?

The New Testament

also maintains

the same distinction.

Philippians 2,

14 to 15 says,

do all things

without grumbling

or disputing

that you may be

blameless and innocent.

1 Peter 4, 9 says,

show hospitality

to one another

without grumbling.

The Pharisees,

scribes,

and the Jews

who oppose Jesus

grumble against him

throughout the Gospels.

And on one occasion,

Jesus' disciples

also grumble

against him

after a teaching

that is hard to accept.

This is the grumbling

that we should not be doing.

But there is another

Greek word

that is usually translated

as a sigh

or a groan,

which is okay for us

as Christians to do.

Even Jesus sighs

in Mark 7, 34.

The Holy Spirit,

he says in Romans 8, 26,

intercedes for us

with groanings

too deep for words.

It's as if the Spirit

empathizes with us,

feels our pain,

and he groans for us

in interceding for us.

Acts 7, 34 refers to Israel

crying out to God

in their slavery in Egypt

as groaning.

And Romans 8 tells us

that the whole creation

has been groaning together

in the pains of childbirth

under the weight of

and the consequences of sin.

And so we also,

he says,

groan inwardly

as we wait eagerly

for adoption as sons,

the redemption of our bodies.

While we are still

on this earth

with our fallen bodies,

we groan,

it says in 2 Corinthians 5,

we groan longing

to put on

our heavenly dwelling.

This kind of groaning

is the appropriate response

of the Christian

who lives in a broken

and sinful world.

When you are living

in constant pain

due to arthritis,

when your body

is wasting away

due to cancer,

you can groan

and pour out

your complaint to God.

When you lose

a loved one to death,

just as Jesus wept

in front of Lazarus' tomb,

you can grieve

and you can groan

that death is still

ravaging our loved ones.

When you face rejection,

isolation,

and loneliness

due to a sinful people,

you can groan.

When you are saddened

by your own besetting sins,

you can sigh

and you can groan.

But we must never grumble.

We can groan

before God

and to God,

but we must not grumble

about God

or against God.

We can groan

in submission to God,

but we must not grumble

in rebellion against God.

We can walk by faith

and still groan,

but if we grumble,

then we are walking

by sight.

A groan says,

God,

this is really hard,

but I trust you.

A grumble says,

God,

you are a hard man,

and I don't trust you.

To groan

is to implore God

to plead with him.

To grumble

is to try to impeach him.

The Israelites grumbled,

but Moses,

we see in verse 25,

he groans.

He says,

Moses cried

to the Lord,

and the Lord

showed him a log,

and he threw it

into the water,

and the water

became sweet.

Moses cried

to the Lord

instead of

grumbling against him,

and this one man's cry

accomplishes more,

far more

than all Israel's grumbling,

because he directed

his prayer to the Lord,

and the Lord answers

Moses' prayer

by showing him a log,

or as the footnote

on ESV says,

a tree,

that he can then

throw into

the bitter waters

to make it sweet.

Verses 25 to 26

continue 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 a wonderful promise.

This is a covenant promise

given specifically

to the people of God.

The Lord repeats it again

to Israel in Exodus 23,

Exodus 23:15

verse 15,

where he promises

that if they serve the Lord,

he will take sicknesses

away from among them,

and this covenant blessing

is repeated

in Deuteronomy 7,

12 to 16.

Again,

if you listen to these rules

and do them,

the Lord your God

will keep with you

the covenant

and the steadfast love

he swore to your fathers,

and the Lord will take away

from you all sickness,

and none of the evil diseases

of Egypt which you knew

will he inflict on you,

but he will lay them

on all who hate you.

But there's also

an accompanying curse,

covenant curse,

in Deuteronomy 20,

15 to 23.

If they break the covenant,

if they are not faithful

to the Lord,

they disobey his voice,

then all these diseases

will come upon them.

This is not because

the Lord is vindictive,

or harsh.

It's because the Lord

loves his people

and is teaching them

and disciplining them.

Job 36, 15 says that

the Lord delivers

the afflicted

by their affliction

and opens their ear

by adversity.

God sometimes delivers us

by afflicting us

to wean us off

from some pride

and sinful pleasure.

God opens our ears

by adversity.

That's how he gets us

to pay attention

to his voice.

That's why C.S. Lewis

is not wrong

when he writes in his book

The Problem of Pain.

God whispers to us

in our pleasures,

speaks in our consciences,

but shouts in our pains.

It is his megaphone

to rouse a deaf world.

Generally speaking,

sickness is a symptom

of a sinful fallen world.

That's why in John 5

when Jesus heals

an invalid,

he tells him,

sin no more,

that nothing worse

may happen to you.

But this shouldn't make us

go around judging

everyone who is sick.

Oh, he just coughed.

What sin did you do

the other day?

Why?

Why can't we do that?

Because in John 9

when Jesus and his disciples

come across a man

blind from birth,

the disciples make

that assumption

and they ask Jesus,

who sinned,

this man or his parents,

that he was born blind?

But Jesus answered,

it was not that this man

sinned or his parents,

but that the works of God

might be displayed in him.

Sometimes people have

a disease or a disability

for no particular sin,

but simply to serve

God's greater purposes

and display his glory.

But we must not miss

the general force

of the Lord's assurance

to his people here.

Because our Lord redeems us

from our slavery to sin,

he also brings healing

from our sicknesses.

If the Israelites

obey the Lord,

things will go well for them.

And if they disobey the Lord,

things will not go so well

for them.

That's the case

for everyone in the world.

Just as any product

that you buy

works better

if you use it

according to the manual,

just as every citizen

in this country,

fares better

if they live

according to the laws

of the land.

If you follow

the ruler of the universe

and you live

according to his will,

things go better for you.

It does.

The healing of the water

of Marah

is a dramatic illustration

of this truth.

God says specifically

in verse 26,

I will put none

of the diseases on you

that I put on the Egyptians,

for I am the Lord,

your healer.

Remember the first plague

that the Lord brought

upon the Egyptians.

In Exodus 7,

the Lord commanded Moses

to strike the water

with what?

With his staff,

wooden staff.

And what happens to it?

The water turns into blood.

People can no longer

drink from the water,

the sweet waters

of the Nile.

He turns the sweet waters

of Nile bitter

so people cannot drink it.

And the miracle in Marah

is nearly the exact opposite

of this.

They come across bitter,

undrinkable water,

and the bitter water

becomes potable,

sweet water

when it is struck

with a tree,

a log,

a staff.

By this,

the Lord demonstrates

another one of his titles,

the Lord,

your healer.

And the healing hand

of our king

is most perfectly demonstrated

by the person and work

of Jesus Christ,

the Son of God.

When Jesus cast out

evil spirits

and healed all

who were sick

in Matthew 8,

Matthew notes

that this was to fulfill

what was spoken

by the prophet Isaiah.

He took our illnesses

and bore our diseases.

This is a citation

of Isaiah 53, 5,

which is about Jesus,

the messianic king

who was to come.

He says there

that he was pierced

for our transgressions.

He was crushed

for our iniquities.

Upon him

was the chastisement

that brought us peace,

and with his wounds,

we are healed.

We saw earlier

from Romans 8

that all creation

is still groaning,

and we are still groaning

in our decaying bodies.

As Paul writes

in 2 Corinthians 4,

our outer self

is wasting away.

We have in this life

momentary light affliction,

but that's preparing us

for eternal weight of glory

beyond all comparison.

In this life,

we still sin.

We still get sick.

We still die.

But the glorious redemption

of God

has already begun

in Christ.

Humanity's sin

and their consequent

alienation from God

is the root of all diseases

and death in this world.

But Jesus came to die

for our sins,

to atone for our sins,

and to reconcile us again

to the Lord,

our healer.

And as we are reconciled

to the giver of life,

we have eternal life.

As we are reconciled

to God,

our healer,

we are healed

of our diseases.

This is why sometimes

we experience

miraculous healings.

They are a sign

of the in-breaking

kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God

that has already begun,

that's been inaugurated,

and that will soon

be consummated.

It is the cross

of Jesus Christ,

like the tree of Mara,

that sweetens

the bitter waters

of our own lives.

Do the circumstances

of life taste bitter

to you?

Are you sick

and depressed?

Are you hurt

and lonely?

Are you weary

from the fight,

worn out from your battles

with the world

and the flesh

and the devil?

Throw the cross

of Christ

into your bitter waters.

Let it have its

sweetening effect.

Behold the Savior

who died

that you might live.

Behold the King

who was wounded

that you might

be healed

and it will sweeten

the bitterness

of your life.

Elim,

in verse 27,

was a foretaste

of the promised land,

Canaan,

for the Israelites.

It says in verse 27,

then,

they came to Elim

where there were

twelve springs of water

and seventy palm trees

and they encamped

there by the water.

It's a wonderful picture.

The numbers

twelve and seventy

have symbolic significance

throughout the scriptures.

There is,

of course,

the twelve tribes

of Israel,

but also when

Jacob's family,

Israel's family,

first moved into Egypt,

he said in Genesis 46,

27,

that their number

was seventy.

Later in Exodus 24,

we see that there are

seventy elders of Israel.

So then,

twelve springs of water

for Israel to drink from

and seventy palm trees

for them to take shade in

under the beating sun.

They represent

God's perfect provision.

And I believe this points

beyond God's provision

for Israel

toward God's provision

for all of God's people

and all nations.

Why?

Because there are

twelve apostles

of Jesus Christ.

And according to Genesis 10,

there are seventy nations

or people groups

descended from Noah

scattered throughout the world.

So then,

this promise is also

for all nations,

for all of God's people,

including Gentiles.

And Revelation 21,

14 tells us

that in the new city

of God,

new Jerusalem,

and in the new heavens

and the new earth,

quote,

the wall of the city

had twelve foundations

and on them

were the twelve names

of the twelve apostles

of the Lamb.

And when Christ returns,

it says in Revelation 21,

verse four,

he will wipe away

every tear from our eyes

and death shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning

nor crying

nor pain anymore,

for the former things

have passed away.

If only Israel

had persevered in faith

a little longer,

they would have come

to Elam

and they would have had

no cause to grumble.

The same is true for us,

brothers and sisters.

We are journeying

still in the wilderness.

In the world,

we will have tribulation,

but take heart,

Jesus has overcome the world.

Because of Jesus,

there are twelve springs

of water

and seventy palm trees

ahead of us.

Because of Jesus,

there are,

there's a promised land

flowing with milk

and honey

ahead of us.

There is the new Jerusalem

with the throne of God

and of the Lamb

in the midst of the city,

with the rivers

of the water of life,

bright as crystal

flowing from it.

And on either side

of the river,

there will be

the tree of life

with its twelve kinds

of fruit.

And its leaves,

it says,

are for the healing

of the nations.

The Lord,

our healer.

So let us not grumble

against the Lord.

But let's behold

the Lord Jesus,

our healer,

by whose wounds

we are healed.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

God,

we thank you

for sending Jesus

our Savior.

God,

we thank you

that though

in our sin

you should be

our destroyer,

in your grace

and mercy

you are our healer.

We thank you

for the cross

of Jesus.

Jesus

smite all

grumbling

from our hearts,

Lord.

Let us instead

groan in faith

and praise you

in gratefulness.

I pray for

dear members

of our church,

people here

who are experiencing

significant bitterness

in their own lives

right now.

Lord,

sweeten those waters.

In Jesus' name

we pray.

Amen.