An Early Test

calendar_today January 8, 2023
menu_book Exodus 15:22-27
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Sermon 37 in Series

Exodus 15:22-27
[22] 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. [23] When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. [24] And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” [25] And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, [26] saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

[27] Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

 

DEEP SHEET: Sermon Study Questions
1.   Why are praise and trust so much easier when things are going well in our lives? How do valleys show us the substance of our faith?
2.   Why would the Israelites have been tempted to stay too long at the Red Sea? How are we tempted to stay or go back when the Lord is pushing us forward?
3.   What problem do the Israelites run into when they leave the Red Sea? What is wrong with their response?
4.   How have you seen complaining show up in your life? What is the alternative?
5.   What does this short narrative say about God’s character and the way in which he shepherds his people through life? How does it prepare us for testing?
6.   What is God’s message to the Israelites as they face and fail this early test? How does this teaching anticipate Mount Sinai and the cross?References:  Psalm 42:9; 44:23-26; Genesis 22:1; Deuteronomy 8:2; 28:21, 27; Exodus 1:5; Revelation 21:4, 6; Romans 8:3-4.

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