HOW TO NOT GROW SPIRITUALLY EXODUS 15:22-27
EXODUS 15:22-24 Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water. They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, What are we going to drink?
EXODUS 15:25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. He made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah and He tested them there.
EXODUS 15:26-27 He said, If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in His eyes, pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am Yahweh who heals you. Then they came to Elim, where there were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms, and they camped there by the waters.
1. The Water Test 2. The Bread Test 3. The Meat Test THREE TESTS:
1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-6 Now I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.
1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-6 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness. Now these things became examples for us, so that we will not desire evil things as they did.
1. THE CONTEXT 2. THE COMPLAINT 3. THE CHALLENGE
1. THE CONTEXT
a. They experienced the plagues.
b. They experienced the Red Sea.
EXODUS 15:22a Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur.
c. They experienced the worship of God.
d. They had a promise.
EXODUS 15:19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath, saying, God will certainly come to your aid; then you must take my bones with you from this place.
e. They experienced three hard days.
LESSON 1: You cannot experience your way into maturity. Experience is no substitute for trust. Your trust is what God is after. What you do when you face difficulty is the best revealer of what you trust.
HEBREWS 3:15-16 But now is the time. Never forget the warning, Today if you hear God s voice speaking to you, do not harden your hearts against him, as the people of Israel did when they rebelled against him in the desert. And who were those people I speak of, who heard God s voice speaking to them but then rebelled against him?
HEBREWS 3:16-17 They were the ones who came out of Egypt with Moses their leader. And who was it who made God angry for all those forty years? These same people who sinned and as a result died in the wilderness.
HEBREWS 3:18-19 And to whom was God speaking when he swore with an oath that they could never go into the land he had promised his people? He was speaking to all those who disobeyed him. And why couldn t they go in? Because they didn t trust him.
2. THE COMPLAINT
EXODUS 15:23-24 They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, What are we going to drink?
ISRAEL COMPLAINS: a. Complaining is the natural reaction to unmet expectations.
EXODUS 15:23-24 They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, What are we going to drink?
ISRAEL COMPLAINS: a. Complaining is the natural reaction to unmet expectations. b. Complaining is primarily an inner attitude.
EXODUS 15:23-24 They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, What are we going to drink?
EXODUS 15:25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable.
ISRAEL COMPLAINS: a. Complaining is the natural reaction to unmet expectations. b. Complaining is primarily an inner attitude. c. Complaining is contagious.
EXODUS 15:23-24 They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter that is why it was named Marah. The people grumbled to Moses, What are we going to drink?
NUMBERS 11:4-5 Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt. And the people of Israel also began to complain. Oh, for some meat! they exclaimed. We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!
Grumble = Liyn --> to stop (usually over night); by implication, to stay permanently; hence (in a bad sense) to be obstinate (especially in words, to complain)
ISRAEL COMPLAINS: a. Complaining is the natural reaction to unmet expectations. b. Complaining is primarily an inner attitude. c. Complaining is contagious. d. Complaining is evil.
NUMBERS 13:30-31 Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it! But the men who had gone up with him responded, We cant go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!
NUMBERS 13:32-33 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. We even saw the Nephilim there the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.
NUMBERS 14:1-2 Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!
NUMBERS 14:3-4 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? So they said to one another, Let s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.
NUMBERS 14:5-7 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite community: The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land.
NUMBERS 14:8-9 If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. Only don't rebel against the Lord, and don't be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don't be afraid of them!
NUMBERS 14:10 While the whole community threatened to stone them, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.
NUMBERS 14:26-28 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: How long must I endure this evil community that keeps complaining about Me? I have heard the Israelites complaints that they make against Me. Tell them: As surely as I live, this is the Lord s declaration, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.
NUMBERS 14:29 Your corpses will fall in this wilderness all of you who were registered in the census, the entire number of you 20 years old or more because you have complained about Me.
3. THE CHALLENGE
EXODUS 15:25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. He made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah and He tested them there.
EXODUS 15:26-27 He said, If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in His eyes, pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am Yahweh who heals you. Then they came to Elim, where there were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms, and they camped there by the waters.
1. Stop Complaining APPLICATION a. Loving Concern vs. Evil Complaint
1. Stop Complaining APPLICATION 2. Understand what's at stake
JAMES 5:9 Brothers, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!
PHILIPPIANS 2:14-15 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world.
APPLICATION 1. Stop Complaining 2. Understand what's at stake 3. Learn to thank God
KEY THOUGHT: Thankfulness is a discipline to develop not just a feeling to be felt
SOURCE OF GRATITUDE Option A: Circumstances Option B: Christ
COLOSSIANS 2:6-7 Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18 Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus.
PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7 Don t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
COLOSSIANS 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.
PSALM 50:14-15,23 Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me. Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.