The Life of Moses10-From Joy to Bitterness and Back Again

From Joy to Bitterness and Back Again

Summary: Five principles that we need to glean in order that we do not allow the problems that we face in life produce bitterness.

Date:25 July, 2015

Scripture Reference: Exodus 15:1-27

Series: The Life of Moses

Scripture Reading

Let us Rise to our feet and together read Exodus 15:1-27 with Emphasis on 22-27

15 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

2 The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

3 The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.

4 Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.

5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.

6 Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.

7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.

8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

11 Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.

14 The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.

15 Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.

16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.

17 Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.

18 The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.

19 For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.

23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.

24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

25 And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lordshewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,

26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

27 And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

This is the word of God. Thanks be to the LORD. May the sweet Holy Spirit add His manifold blessings to our text this morning... in our hearing. Amen! You may be seated in God's Presence.

Introduction

One of the greatest challenges that you will face in life is to try to keep bitterness at bay. Everyone has to guard against bitterness creeping into their hearts. A lot of things in life have the potential to make us bitter. Family problems, marriage stresses, rejection, past abuses, loneliness, misunderstanding, conflicts, church problems and the list could go on forever. All of these if not dealt have the potential to become bitterness in your soul. Everything you think about will then be processed through this filter of pain, it will effect your thinking, your emotions, your relationship with others and your relationship with God. When that happens you lose you effectiveness in accomplishing anything for God with you life. 

In Exodus 15, verse one we read that the children of Israel were jubilant at the deliverance they had just received at the hand of God, we read, “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD….” They were so joyful at having been miraculously redeemed from bondage and delivered from their enemies forever, that they are full of praise. The first twenty verses of Exodus 15 are a song in which the Israelites celebrated and commemorated their victory at the Red Sea. But now they face the wilderness. Would the joy of deliverance and the knowledge of their God give them the inner strength to face the trials that lay ahead? Does Yours? 

As we look at these experiences in a sermon that I have entitled, “From Joy to Bitterness and Back Again,” there are five principles that we need to glean in order that we do not allow the problems that we face in life produce bitterness. 

Sermon

1. Great Victories Are Sometimes Followed by Great Problems (v. 22) 

“So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.”

They were on their way to the Promised Land, but it was proving to be a difficult journey. We see Israel move quickly from the joy of victory to the bitterness of disappointment.

There will be places of bitterness along life’s journey for us, as believers. We have to know how to overcome bitterness in our personal lives because bitterness is very dangerous.

Hebrews 12:15 says, “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” Bitterness reproduces very quickly. If one person has bitterness, it will flow into many, many hearts. Bitterness sets in because people harden their hearts when they are hurt, and they resist available grace. Bitterness comes into our lives when we fail to appropriate God’s grace to overcome disappointments. We may be disappointed in a person, in a situation, or in what a person does to us. However, there is available grace for every trial and for every circumstance. It is always possible to overcome and triumph!

The text says “then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea… they traveled in the desert without finding water.” Only three days into their journey they encountered their first difficulty, a shortage of water. Can you imagine the relief when in the distance they spotted an oasis and their hopes rose high as they hurried to this potential of life-giving water. 

1. Great Victories Are Sometimes Followed by Great Problems (v. 22) 

2. Problems As Well As Victories Are Part of God’s Plan (v. 23) 

Verse 23 says, “Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.” 

Three days in and the people, understandably, were parched. Surely God did not bring them through the Red Sea simply to have them die in the wilderness, did He? The “water of Marah” may refer either to “the Bitter Lakes” or an oasis called Bir Marah “where the water is saline with heavy mineral content.”

[John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), p.91.]

You will perhaps recognize this word marah. It is what Naomi renames herself in the end of Ruth 1 as she launches her complaint against God to the Bethlehemite women. Bitter! The water is bitter!

Nobody likes undrinkable water, not even the Lord! As He says to the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:15-16 concerning their bland non-commitment, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” Furthermore, in Jude 12, Jude writes of the taunting disappointment of expecting water and finding none when he metaphorically describes the false teachers as “water less clouds.”

Whether it be grossly lukewarm or bitter or merely a mirage that does not deliver what it promises, undrinkable water is a plague. Thus, they “grumbled” against Moses. Moses, in turn, “cried to the Lord.”

They plunged their faces into the water to quench their thirst only to find that the water was bitter. It was not poisonous but it was unpleasant. Because the water was to bitter to drink the people called it the “waters of bitterness.” When it became apparent that their hopes for relief from thirst were in vain, they reacted as they had in the past. I want you to notice that in the space of three short days they have gone from singing and praising to turning on their leader, murmuring and complaining. But in truth sometimes we can do that in a lot shorter time. Some of us lose our praise and forget God in the time that it takes us to get home from church. 

The fact that “Marah” came to the children of Israel is proof that it can and will happen to us. Life is made up of such experiences, of highs and lows, of mountain-tops and valleys. Some say, “But I thought that being saved meant that life would be without pain and that I would have the presence of Jesus with me at all times.” Well, welcome to Reality. Difficulties and setbacks come with amazing regularity in life, sometimes right on the heels of extraordinary blessing. We are caught off guard and gladness quickly changes to gloom and despair. 

It seems that some times when we as the people of God experience blessing instead of being thankful we come to expect that level of blessing. If God has blessed you in some tangible way and you have enjoyed the abundance you, if you do not watch yourself you will begin to expect that blessing as your right.

1. Great Victories Are Sometimes Followed by Great Problems (v. 22) 

2. Problems As Well As Victories Are Part of God’s Plan (v. 23) 

3. When We Murmur We Fail the Test (v. 24) 

The next verse (v. 24) they cry out “And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” Their agonizing cry tells us of their disillusionment and disappointment. Instead of turning to God in supplication and trust they assumed the problem was unsolvable and that they were doomed to die in this hot and arid wilderness. Even though they had only three days before witnessed amazing supernatural deliverance, they assumed that God had now left them to die. 

Difficulties come to us all, and we are faced then with how we will respond to them. “Some people remind me of a little boy that that I once heard of. He got in trouble and his mother put him in the closet to (think it over). He spit on everything…his mother’s dresses, his daddy’s suits, the shoes, the wall, even the light socket! After a while his mother opened the door and asked , ‘what are you doing?’ He replied, ‘I’m waiting on more spit.’” 

[from sermon by J.G. Tharpe. “Turning Bitterness Into Sweetness.” Soul Winning. Vol XXIII # 4. Fall – November 1987, pp. 1-2]. 

The truth is that bitter believers are just as silly. When we are faced with a “Marah” experience we have two alternatives. We can either get bitter and turn from God or we can believe the promises of the Bible and be blessed by God. 

Once again the children of Israel had to be taught that no problem is so severe and no danger is so great that Almighty God cannot find a solution. 

1. Great Victories Are Sometimes Followed by Great Problems (v. 22) 

2. Problems As Well As Victories Are Part of God’s Plan (v. 23) 

3. When We Murmur We Fail the Test (v. 24) 

4. God Brings Us Into Trials In Order To Teach Us Great Lessons (v. 25) 

Fortunately, Moses did not forget where to turn for help because in verse 25 we find, “So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 

In this situation God showed Moses a nearby desert tree and told him to cut off a branch and throw it into the nearby water. Here he asked Moses to by faith do something that may or may not make sense to him on a natural level. God rebuked the lack of faith among the people of Israel and told them that it had been a test. But it was not God who has on trial. It was a test of the people, a test that we can easily see that they failed miserably. 

God showed up once again and saved His people. I say this is a “contrasting water miracle” because it does indeed offer ironic contrasts to the miracle of the Red Sea. Consider:

• At the Red Sea Israel did not want to go into the water but they had to. At Marah Israel wanted to get into the water but could not at first.
• At the Red Sea Israel thought they would die beside a large body of water. At Marah Israel thought they would die before a small body of water.
• At the Red Sea God saved Israel by keeping them from contact with the water. At Marah God saved Israel by enabling them to have contact with the water.
• At the Red Sea Israel moved from fear to joy. At Marah Israel moved from joy to fear to joy again.

The key was the tree, which is a type of the cross. 

To gain the victory over bitterness: 

(1) we must go to the cross, realising that we have no rights of our own. After we have gone to the cross, 

(2) we must take the second step, which is to forgive. Forgiveness is rooted in step three, which is 

(3) forgetfulness. We cannot truly forgive unless we can forget what has happened.

In Genesis 41:51, we find a spiritual truth that will bring victory into our lives if we can appropriate it and then practice it, “And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” This verse speaks of Joseph’s firstborn son Manasseh, one of two sons which he had after he came out of prison. Manasseh means “forgetfulness.” Joseph said that the Lord caused him to forget all of his toil and suffering. The name of Joseph’s second son was Ephraim, which means “double fruitfulness.” Therefore, we see that it is forgetfulness that leads us to a fruitful Christian life.

When  I  ministered in United Andhra Pradesh many years ago, We had people from all over  asking for counsel. We had many difficult counselling sessions, some of which would go on for hours as people would pour out their hearts and share all the sins they had struggled with. By the grace of God, the key(word of Wisdom) for each situation was given, and they would walk away victorious.

However, I began to feel like a cesspool because I had collected all the knowledge of their sins. When I looked at those dear people again, I could remember everything they had told me. I cried out to the holy Spirit, “Lord, I can’t continue like this.” He replied, “Ask Me for Manasseh (forgetfulness). When you have finished counselling, go back to your room and ask Me to give you Manasseh.”

To illustrate my point, it is like a person who is taking off one tea cup and putting on another. All you have to do is pray, “Lord, I am taking off this old tea cup and all its thoughts, and I am putting on a new tea cup. I am putting on Manasseh.”

After this, I could look at these dear people I had counselled, and I could not remember a thing that they had said! God can give you holy forgetfulness just like He gave Joseph.

It is wonderful, and necessary to have God’s forgetfulness in counselling. Many people are in need of a trusted counsellor whom they can counsel with, and perhaps even confess to, in order to put things right—someone who will not repeat their sensitive struggles to another. They do not want to have to look at that counsellor afterwards and think, “He has a storehouse of all my secrets.”

With a Manasseh, I could literally look at a person and not remember what he had shared with me. When people have come back to me and asked if I remember what they had told me, I could not even remember counselling with them.

Forgetfulness—it is so powerful. It keeps our spirits free!

The first place holy forgetfulness should be practiced is in the home. It should work with husbands and wives, and between parents and children.

I cannot overemphasise the need for holy forgetfulness for pastors. A young pastor will probably find in his first congregation the same kind of people King David had in the wilderness—the kind who were in debt, distressed, and discontented (see 1 Samuel 22:2). This is usually the case, unless you are succeeding a godly pastor who has cleaned everything up for you, which is rather doubtful. We will often have all kinds of people saying things about us—things that are true, and some that are untrue. The most painful are the words that are true, because with the untrue we can let the words roll off like water off a duck’s back.

When someone does say something, go quickly to God and ask for your holy forgetfulness. By this means, we can have peace and victory. Start practicing this right away so that you can triumph in the waters of Marah (bitter experiences). When you have the victory in your own life, you can impart it to others.

The quality of forbearance means “to be able to bear long with an evil in a person’s heart that God has not dealt with yet.” Paul said in Ephesians 4:1-2, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.”

As a leader, you may have a serious need in your own life, and you may say, “God, please deal with this.” However, God may deal with everything else first. Eventually, He will remedy the thing we were most concerned about. God has His order when dealing with issues in a person’s life. Sometimes it is

necessary to have certain people in the congregation who have real problems which God has not dealt with yet. This is for the purpose of developing a special quality of forbearance in our lives. We must learn to forbear the flaws we see in others, and also those we see in ourselves. I can think of several people whom we have had to be in contact with quite frequently. They are beautiful people, but with serious problems in their lives. At times we have felt as though we would have to break fellowship with them because of these problems. However, God has repeatedly said, “I will deal with that in My time, and I am using it to develop forbearance in you.”

Remember, God is desirous of forming leaders. Therefore, He not only selects the pastor for the congregation, but He also hand-picks the congregation for the pastor. Hence, we should thank God for our congregation, which has been expertly chosen to work out His nature and qualities in us.

Well, God had used these difficult circumstances to show the children of Israel what was in their hearts. He said to them in verse 26, “… If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you (that is Jehovah Rophe).”

Here we find God reveals himself as 

“Jehovah Rophe - the God who heals. ” “The word heal means “to mend” as a garment is mended, to repair – as a building is reconstructed, to cure – as a diseased person is restored to health.” 

[Herbert Lockyer. All the Divine Names And Titles In the Bible. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975) p. 24]

When we find our lives have become bitter because of our circumstances if we will go to the Lord he will help us. He does not always do it the same way:

(1) He may change our circumstances and remove the cause of bitterness.
(2) It may be however, that he adds a new ingredient as he did at the well of Marah. Perhaps your position at work has become intolerable, but God does not give you a new job. Instead he brings on new management or a new co-worker who is a Christian to encourage you.
(3) It may be that God just gives us new found toleration for the situation we are in. God is God and is not restricted in how he heals our situation.

The tree in the desert is an encouraging symbol even for us as Christians today. Jehovah showed Moses a tree which if cast into the water would take away its bitterness. The Lord has revealed to us another tree, the cross of Calvary. Here we are introduced to Christ, the One who heals us.

Divine healing is in the atonement. In the Great Commission, the Lord said in Mark 16:15-18, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” The Lord commanded us to lay hands upon the sick, with a promise that they would recover. Divine healing is a part of the gospel.

Have you ever applied the cross of Christ to the bitter waters of your life? There is but one physician who can heal the ills of our soul. There is a Great Physician and his name is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord Jesus Christ. All you must do is run to him. He is waiting for you with open arms. 

It is God who can take the bitterness of the death of a loved one, the bitterness of family relationship problems, the bitterness of severe illness, the bitterness of losing your income and the bitterness of having yielded to temptation and make those experiences to become sweet. As the psalmist discovered in his own life and recorded for us in (30:5), “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

He assured the people that he would continue to be with them as they made their journey to the promised land.

1. Great Victories Are Sometimes Followed by Great Problems (v. 22) 

2. Problems As Well As Victories Are Part of God’s Plan (v. 23) 

3. When We Murmur We Fail the Test (v. 24) 

4. God Brings Us Into Trials In Order To Teach Us Great Lessons (v. 25) 

5. When God Is Finished With the Test He Takes Us Back To A Place of Blessedness (v. 27) 

“Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.”

The children of Israel travelled to Elim where there were 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees (Ex. 15:27, cf. Num. 33:9). This verse reveals several truths concerning the development and organisation of a church. The number “twelve” speaks of government, the governing body of a church. A well is for quenching the thirst of others. A leader, therefore, is a well that must have water springing up in his own heart, flowing out to others (Prov. 10:11).

The Lord Jesus Christ said in John 4:14, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

As leaders, we must make sure that our well of bubbling water is always open, and that it does not become stopped up. One way that we can stop or dry up our well is by living in the past. This happens to so many. At a recent conference, we were talking with some visiting brethren about a man we had all known. This is the report that they gave, “He is now living in the past! He is perpetrating what God used to do; he is not living in a present experience of God.” He had remained on a plateau and had not continued on in His walk with God, up His holy mountain. In other words, his well was stopped (cf. Rev. 3:1).

At one of the student Missionary conferences (as I was involving with UESI) I attended, there was a beautiful couple who later became Ministers. I saw them ten years later, and the level of our conversation was the same as it had been at Conference. Unfortunately, they had not moved on in God. Every one of us needs a present experience in God, something God is speaking to us right now.

At Elim, we also see 70 palm trees. Seventy is the number of eldership. Palm trees speak of righteousness (Ps. 92:12). Isaiah 61:3 speaks of “…trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” Therefore, we have here one of the qualities of eldership. Elders are to be like palm trees — straight and righteous. Moreover, people who are righteous must surround themselves with others who are righteous.

Elim was an oasis in the desert; thus a leader should be an oasis to his flock. At the same time, a leader should be righteous, a well that quenches the thirsty soul, and an example to others.

Invitation And The Final Challenge

1. Not all of life is going to be sweet! Life is a combination of the bitter and the sweet.

2. Rather than complaining we must go to God with our needs and seek His provision.

3. God not only gave them relief at Marah but rest at Elim. 

One day, two monks were walking through the countryside. They were on their way to another village to help bring in the crops. As they walked, they spied an old woman sitting at the edge of a river. She was upset because there was no bridge, and she could not get across on her own. The first monk kindly offered, "We will carry you across if you would like." "Thank you," she said gratefully, accepting their help. So the two men joined hands, lifted her between them and carried her across the river. When they got to the other side, they set her down, and she went on her way. 

After they had walked another mile or so, the second monk began to complain. "Look at my clothes," he said. "They are filthy from carrying that woman across the river. And my back still hurts from lifting her. I can feel it getting stiff." The first monk just smiled and nodded his head. 

A few more miles up the road, the second monk griped again, "My back is hurting me so badly, and it is all because we had to carry that silly woman across the river! I cannot go any farther because of the pain." The first monk looked down at his partner, now lying on the ground, moaning. "Have you wondered why I am not complaining?" he asked. "Your back hurts because you are still carrying the woman. But I set her down five miles ago." 

That is what many of us are like in dealing with our families. We are that second monk who cannot let go. We hold the pain of the past over our loved ones’ heads like a club, or we remind them every once in a while, when we want to get the upper hand, of the burden we still carry because of something they did years ago. 

[Dr. Anthony T. Evans, Guiding Your Family in a Misguided World. ]

Here we begin to understand that what God did for Israel at the waters of Marah God does for the hearts of all who will come to Christ: He changes the bitter into sweet, the unpalatable into the delightful, death into life. God is still in the business of delivering His grumbling children. He does so through and in Jesus, the King who makes all things new.

Are you stuck in the bitter waters of Marah? Come to the everlasting waters of Christ! Take His hand and take His way and He will lead you home.