Let us turn again to God's Word
and turning to the end of the chapter that we were reading
from in Exodus, Exodus 15, and you'll see the paragraph that's
marked from verse 23 through 26. These four verses, I'll read
the four verses. We're told having been brought through the
Red Sea. So they journey now three days
into the wilderness. Verse 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. And the people murmured against Moses, saying,
What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord, and
the Lord showed 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, 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. And in particular, it's those
words at the end of the portion that I want to take for a text,
where the Lord says at the end of verse 26, I am the Lord that
healeth thee. the expression in the Hebrew
is Jehovah Rophek. Now we were considering of course
last Lord's Day evening what he said at the beginning of this
chapter, the opening parts of the Song of Solomon where in
verse 2 we read, The Lord is my strength and song and He has
become my salvation. And we thought then in particular
of that expression, the Lord is my strength, Jehovah Hosea. This is of course the great name
that the Lord has declared unto Moses back in chapter 3 when
he was called and commissioned to be the deliverer of the children
of Israel out of the bondage that they were suffering under
the Egyptians. and God declares His name I AM
that I AM and the word LORD as we have it here as you know in
the Old Testament and it's set before us in these capital letters
it is in fact that name I AM in verse 3 We're told the Lord is a man
of war. The Lord is His name. I am is
His name. I am is simply the verb to be. And so God speaking in the first
person simply says I am. When we speak of God we speak
of Him in the third person we say He is. And that really is
the literal meaning of the word that we see here as Lord. He
is the great unchanging Jehovah, is I am that I am. Well, we thought to say something
with regards to his name as Jehovah Osi. Now, I want us to consider
what is said here at the end of the chapter. When the Lord
declares to Moses, I am the Lord that healeth thee. and it's spoken
in the context in terms of what he had done to the Egyptians
and he will not bring those terrible judgments upon his people that
were visited upon their oppressors I will put none of these diseases
upon they which I have brought upon the Egyptians he says the
ten plagues God's judgment upon that wicked people this will
not come upon the children of Israel no he says I am the Lord
that healeth thee and considering this promise in the context and
first of all to say something with regards to to Israel's situation
how strange it was they're now in a place called Mara we're
told the reason why it was given that name because it was a place
where there was bitter water but previous to that they'd been
in a situation where they could find no water at all as they
came away from the Red Sea in verse 22 as they journey into
the wilderness the wilderness of Shur and after three days
they're in some difficulty, they can find no water at all, no
water at all. How quickly the situation is
changing for these people. Not long previously of course,
there seemed to be nothing but waters before them. When they
were fleeing from the Egyptians, and they were pursuing them after
they'd left the land and there's mountains on each side of them
and suddenly there's no way of escape because there's nothing
but waters before them. Back in chapter 14, remember
verse 9 The enemy says 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. The water now before them, how
can they escape? Well in the song Moses realizes
what God is able to do. The Lord does but blow. He makes
a way through the Red Sea and so they're in a place now of
safety. God will destroy their enemies.
But how terrible it was in the first place when those Egyptians
were pursuing after them. and about to overtake them. They were encamped by the sea. They couldn't see how it was
possible that there should be a way. But the Lord himself was
able to make a way for them, though they were overwhelmed
by the thought of those dreadful waters of the Red Sea. And now,
no water at all. A dry, barren wilderness is where
they were. And what do they do? Oh, they
begin to murmur. They begin to complain. The situation, you see, is such
that all they can do really is utter their complaints and blame
Moses and blame the Lord. Look at what they say back in
chapter 14. Verse 11, they say to Moses,
because there were no graves in Egypt, as they had taken us
away to die in the wilderness, wherefore hast thou donest with
us to carry us forth out of Egypt? How quickly they will complain
there when there's nothing but the Red Sea before them. And
again we find them complaining now because There's no water. They are ever murmuring people,
the children of Israel. Or the situation that they're
in and then suddenly they come to a place where there is water.
But the situation really goes from bad to worse because when
water is there, the waters in a sense are mocking them because
they're bitter waters. they want water to drink and there's no water at all to
drink so again they turn and they murmur there in verse 24
they murmur against Moses saying what shall we drink? what shall
we drink? and yet the amazing thing was
that of course previously God had showed himself to be on their
side it was God who had granted to them that great victory over
their enemies they were to stand still that's what the Lord had
said they would see the salvation of God and that's exactly what
they did see as we see at the end of chapter
14 They walked through the Red Sea upon the dry land. The waters
were a wall unto them on the right hand and on their left.
Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians
dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw the great work
which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And the people feared the Lord
and believed the Lord and His servant Moses. God had done a great thing for
them destroying their enemies there in the waters of the Red
Sea and yet how quickly they forget and how soon they are
there complaining all over again as we read in the psalm they
soon forgot his works or they soon forgot his works God delivers
and they might praise him, they might sing this great song. They
join in with Moses and Aaron and Miriam in praising the Lord. But as soon as circumstances
change, how quick they are to complain. Now we are so like
them, we lose sight of the Lord and all that the Lord does for
us. That great salvation. surely rather than be those who
are ready to repine we should rather be those who would remember and isn't God continually testing
these people? as we read at the end of verse
25 he proves them there he made for them a statute and an ordinance
and there he proved them And this is what they have to remember
when they come to the borders of the Promised Land. It's 40
years later. They've experienced all the wilderness
wanderings, because that generation that had come out of Egypt, they
were not permitted to enter into the land. And they'd sent out
the spies, the 12 spies, one from each of the tribes, It was
only Joshua and Caleb who had come back with a good report
that they could go in and possess the land. It was the land of
promise. He promised the land to their fathers, to Abraham
and to Isaac. But then the other ten spies
bring an evil report. And how quickly they are to believe
that. The land is full of walled cities and there's giants in
the land. And they are fearful. And God visits his judgment upon
them. They are to wander those 40 years,
the whole generation passing away. And then God brings them
again to the borders. And there we have it in the 8th
chapter of Deuteronomy. And what does the Lord God say
to them? They shall remember. Thou shalt remember all the way
which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness
to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine
heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no.
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee
with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers
know, that he might make thee know that man does not live by
bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of the Lord does man live. Are they not to repine? Are they
not to be always ready to complain and to murmur? Rather, are they
to remember the Lord? And we are the same. We are not
to forget. We are prone to forget so much
of the Lord and the ways and the dealings of the Lord. and
yet if we would but remember what did the Lord God do for
his people when the fullness of the time was come he sent
forth his son made of a woman made under the law to redeem
or to redeem them that were under the condemnation of the law that's
what he did he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life and he that spared not his own son but
delivered him up for us all shall he not with him also freely give
us all things all these people you see and
their situation suddenly they're in a place where there's there's
no water they're in a dry barren land and then they come to the
waters but the waters are bitter waters But then now we see that
the Lord God can make the bitter water sweet. It's a remarkable
passage, isn't it, that we have here. What the Lord does. When the people murmur and say
to Moses, what shall we drink? What does Moses do? He cried
unto the Lord. He cried unto the Lord and the
Lord showed him a tree. which when he had cast into the
waters, the waters were made sweet. This is God's doing, you see.
The sweet waters. What do we see here? I like the
remarks of that good man Joseph Hoare, Bishop of Norwich back
in the 17th century. In many ways he was a conforming
Puritan. He was a good man. And he wrote
his contemplations on the historic passages really of the Old Testament
Scriptures. And Bishop Hall speaks of this
tree as a type of the cross. A type of the cross. He says,
O blessed Saviour, thy cross, that is the application of the
sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, is enough to sweeten
a whole sea of bitterness. The cross of Christ sweetens
a whole sea of bitterness. How remarkable is that? Or the sweet waters you see.
The sweet waters that we come at when we come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Isn't one of His names given
in Scripture the well of Bethlehem? I think I've said before that
Alexander Cruden in his commentary rather his concordance I should
say his concordance on scripture as a list I think there's 200
names that he lists as the names of Christ that we find in the
Old Testament and in the New Testament and among those names
of course is that of the well of Bethlehem and remember David
when he comes to the end of his days there in 2nd Samuel 23 he
longs and said all that one would give me to drink of the water
of the well of Bethlehem the water of the well of Bethlehem
isn't that the Lord Jesus Christ you know There's a lovely hymn,
I did wonder whether we might sing it tonight, one of John
Kensim's, 1091, in Gadsby's selection, and it's based on that theme
of the Well of Bethlehem. And he says in the hymn, Water
so pure, or half so good, from nature's fountains never flowed,
there's curse and death in every stream, safe in the well of Bethlehem? Why does the stretch of human
woe, those death-consuming waters flow, spring up a well? Be this
my theme, thou water sweet from Bethlehem." It is the Lord Jesus
and all that the Lord Jesus has done that sweetens every bitter
thing in the lives of the people of God. and the good Bishop Joseph
Hall brings that out in his contemplations and so we see here you see their
situation and we see their circumstances these different experiences of
water the waters a great barrier before them too much water at
the Red Sea and then no water to drink at all in the arid wilderness
and then water found and waters that are so bitter and yet waters
that can be sweetened and then when we come to the end the end
of the chapter there seems to be an abundance we didn't read
that last verse when I started the sermon we read the paragraph
from verse 23 through 26 but the very last word we're told
they came to Elim where there were twelve wells of water and
three school and ten palm trees and they encamped there by the
waters. It's remarkable what we see in
scripture concerning the waters And of course the Gospel is represented
to us in Ezekiel 47 as a river, a river to swim in. Remember
the opening verses of that chapter and how the Prophet describes
the wonderful scene. And it's a picture, it's a demonstration
of the Gospel. He says, afterward he brought
me again unto the door of the house, that is the temple, and
behold waters issued out from under the threshold of the house
eastward, for the forefront of the house stood toward the east,
and the waters came down from under the right side of the house,
at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the
way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without
unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward. And behold,
there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had
the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand
cubits, and he brought me through the waters, and the waters were
to the ankles. again he measured a thousand
and brought me through the waters and the waters were to the knees
again he measured a thousand and brought me through the waters
were to the loins afterward he measured a thousand and it was
a river that I could not pass over the waters were risen waters
to swim in a river that could not be passed over the vision
of the waters And what it represents is the fullness of the grace
of God in the Gospel. Or waters, waters to swim in. And even here you see, we see
in his dealings with the children of Israel, and remember how these
things to us are examples, that's what the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians
10, We upon whom the ends of the
world are come, this gospel day, these things have a lesson for
us. They come to Elim. This is Israel, the children,
the descendants of Jacob, the ten tribes, they come, or the
twelve tribes I should say, they come to Elim where were twelve
wells of water. Oh why? Here there is going to
be no strife at all. There's a well of water for each
of the tribes. Each tribe will have its own
well of water. This is a provision that the
Lord makes for his people. And it's the same in the Gospel.
Can we not with joy draw waters from the wells of salvation?
Oh, there's such an abundance. An abundance of grace. Here then
we see something of their circumstances, their situation. and we've considered
it all in terms of these waters. But what lessons are taught here? What can we learn with regards
to our own lives and our own experiences? Well, there's certainly
one very basic lesson that stands out and that is the truth that
the Christian's life is very much a changeable life. if we're the Lord's people we'll
know something of changes in our lives that's a general principle
and this is what is set before us here those words at the end
of verse 25 there he made for them a statute and an ordinance
and therefore he proves them There's something in what we're
reading then concerning these people, their situation, and
their experience. All these things happened unto
them for examples, as we said, or types. They're written for
a learning upon whom the ends of the world are come. And there
in 1 Corinthians 10, if you look at the context, Paul is very
much speaking of the the days of Moses and their deliverance
from Egypt and their coming through the Red Sea. It's these things
that are written for our learning. It's these things that are ensembles
to us. There's something to be learned.
What is it that we learn? Well, we see that their whole
situation is so changeable. It's always changing. And remember
what we're told in one of the Psalms, Psalm 55, we are told
they're concerning the ungodly, that they have no changes. Psalm
55, 19, because they have no changes, therefore they fear
not God. Oh God orders matters in our
lives in order that we might learn to fear Him. And that fear,
of course, is the beginning of knowledge. We have to come to
a knowledge of Him, an understanding of God and His ways. We have that paraphrase, don't
we, of the Psalm, the 32nd Psalm, through all the changing scenes
of life, in troubles, and enjoy the praises of my God shall still
my heart and tongue employ through all the changing scenes of life
and now Paul is a wonderful pattern of these things a wonderful example
to us when he writes to those believers at Philippi when we
come to the end of that epistle There in chapter 4 of Philippians,
what does Paul say? Verse 12, I know both how to
be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things
I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. or whatever the situation, whatever
the circumstance, he has to learn that his whole life is one of
complete and utter dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's a principle, I say, that we see here. Here is a statute,
here is an ordinance. The way of the Lord's people,
and Israel, of course, here in the Old Testament, they're the
Lord's people, they're a typical people. Ethnic Israel, he said
before us here, but they teach us God's ways with
his true Israel, the spiritual Israel. But also here, in a sense, what
are they experiencing at the beginning of those days, those years that
they're going to spend in the wilderness? Well they have a
foretaste of what their whole journey is going to be like.
There will be thirst, there will be bitterness at the beginning
but there will be sweetness and there will be abundance and plenty
at the end. Oh God knows the thoughts of
these things towards his people. I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you
an expected end, he says. The end of the thing is better
than the beginning thereof. It's very different, isn't it,
to the ways of Satan. Satan will give pleasure at the
entrance into his ways. He sweetens the bait, you see.
When he comes with his cruel temptations, he sweetens the
bait. And we're tempted, and we fall. And then what does he
do? He turns accuser. He's the accuser
of the brethren, accusing them day and night before God tormenting
them. Yes, there's a sweet bait at
the beginning, but the bitterness is reserved to the end, whereas
God's ways are the very reverse of that. very reverse of that Christ says
in the world ye shall have tribulation trials troubles in the world
be of good cheer he says I have overcome the world why I have
not seen nor heard neither hath entered into the hearts of men
the things that God hath prepared for them that love him yes here we see that even at
the beginning they know changes and troubles they know bitterness
and want that God will make every provision for his people but
let me try to say a little more concerning what's said here in
verse 25 concerning the wood concerning the tree and its significance Moses cries to the Lord, it says,
and the Lord showed 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. Consider just what it is that
sweetens. We've already given intimation
with regards to it. We remember that the tree is
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a type of that great work
of redemption that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished upon the
cross. Who can it be? The groans beneath
the cross of Massey Ward. We sometimes sing those lines
in the hymn 950. The Lord Jesus groaning. under the burden of that cross
that death that he must die and yet it is that death of the Lord
Jesus Christ that is the ministry of real comfort to the people
of God that's a blessing you see that's where we find healings
and restorings Seek my soul, no other healing but in Jesus'
balmy blood, says John Kent. Or the balmy blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We have to consider him that
endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
we be weary and faint in our own minds. We have to be those
who would take up our cross and be followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ. this is where the sweetness comes
from a true contemplation of what Christ accomplished by that
life of willing submission and obedience to all the will of
his father even the obedience unto the death of the cross and
how it sweetens it's interesting isn't it what it says at the
beginning of this 25th verse the Lord showed him a tree. He cried unto the Lord, he prays,
and he doesn't pray in vain. The Lord showed him a tree. You
know, it reminds us how the Lord must show us all things. Only
the Lord can reveal these things to us. What is real religion? What is Christianity? It's a
revealed religion. and it's a revelation that comes
from God himself when Peter makes his confession at Caesarea Philippi
thou art the Christ the son of the living God what does the
Lord say blessed art thou Simon bar Jonah flesh and blood I can't
reveal it unto thee but my father which is in heaven it's a revelation
it's a revelation that God gave him And it's the same with Paul,
isn't it? When he writes to the Galatians,
he pleads God, he says, who separated me from my mother's womb to reveal
his son in me. It was a revelation. It's all
revelation. It comes from God. The Lord showed
the tree to Moses. And the Lord must show us the
significance of the of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
all that God accomplishes, that great salvation. These diseases
that God brought upon the Egyptians, spoken of at the end of verse
26, they're those terrible plagues, the ten plagues, God's judgments. And when we think of the the worst of all plagues, a deadly
plague of sin. Where is there healing from our
sins? Only in the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Without the shedding of blood
there is no remission of sins. We can know nothing of forgiveness,
pardon, peace with God, but only through the bloody death of the
Lord Jesus his body bathed in blood how he pours out his soul
unto death and God is the one who must reveal these things
to us and it is God revealing himself
as I said at the beginning this expression I am the Lord that
healeth thee it's based upon what God had said concerning
himself the Lord is his name he is the great I am but how
can we come to know the I am? well he makes himself known in
the experiences he brings his people into those words we were
looking at only a week ago at the beginning of the chapter
the Lord my strength. That was the beginning, wasn't
it, of Moses' song. Jehovah, the Lord is my strength. Paul had to prove that. As he
tells us there at the end of 2nd Corinthians, how he was all
weakness in himself. And all his strength could only
come from the Lord. When I am weak, he says, then
am I strong. Well, it was the same for Moses.
He had to prove that there at the Red Sea. It was the Lord
God himself who fought for the children of Israel. They were
to stand still, they would see the salvation of God. Oh, God
is that one who is mighty to say. Salvation is of the Lord. It's the Lord's doing in its
entirety. The Lord, my strength. The Lord that healeth me. The one who delivers His people. Delivers them from all their
diseases. That dreadful spiritual disease
which is sin. Deliverance. and deliverance
only in what the Lord Himself is able to do and does do. He does it for His people. Jehovah-Rophek is the Hebrew word that we have
here. It's another revelation of God
showing Himself making himself known in the experiences of his
people. In all the various experiences
then they have some new discovery of God. In every bitter experience they
taste something more of the sweetness of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. As the hymn writer says, though
our cup be filled with gore there's something secret that sweetens
all oh what is it? it's the Lord, it's the Lord's
ways, it's the Lord's dealings with his people look at the language that we
have at the end of the books of Moses here in Deuteronomy
32 where we have another song the second song of Moses and
what does he say there? see now that I, even I, am her. And there is no God with me.
I kill and I make alive, I wound and I heal. Neither is there
any that can deliver out of my hands. Oh, He is the Lord, you see,
that heals His people. The One who is able to minister
to them. And we see it so many times in
the language of the Psalmists. Of course the book of Psalms
is such a remarkable part of Holy Scripture, so experimental,
it's full of the experiences of God's children. David in his
Psalms, writing out of the fullness of his own heart, of the Lord's
dealings with him. Psalm 147 and verse 3, He healeth
the broken in heart and bindeth their And then again, in the 103rd
Psalm, I did wonder whether to read Psalm 103 or Psalm 106. We read Psalm 106, or part of
it, because of course it relates to the same portion that we're
looking at, but they're in the opening words of Psalm 103. Well, what does the psalmist
say? Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Let me get
it right. It's bless the Lord O my soul
and all that is within me bless his holy name, bless the Lord
O my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all
thy iniquities and healeth all thy diseases. Great Psalm, isn't
it? The God who forgives the iniquities
of his people is the God who heals them from all their diseases.
It's parallel statements. It's that God who ministers to
the real needs of his people, all their spiritual maladies.
And he delivers them, he heals them, he restores them, he establishes
them. This is the one that brought
them out of Egypt. and visited a terrible judgment
upon their enemies. And what does he say here in
the words of our text tonight? If they will diligently hearken
to the voice of the Lord thy God, and will do that which is
right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments
and keep his statutes, or to walk in that path of obedience,
I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought
upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth them. There He made for them a statute
and an ordinance, and there He proves them. May the Lord be
pleased to bless His Word to us. May we know Him indeed as
that One who is able to heal us, to restore us from all our
sinful ways and all our wanton backslidings of heart. Oh, the
Lord be pleasing to bless these truths to us tonight. Amen.