Tag: no water

42.l. “Wilderness” – 1. Bitter water – Grumbling

 

Exodus 15:22  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.  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.

 Numbers 11:1-6   And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, 

 Numbers 16:41    But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled 

 Numbers 14:1-4    Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.  And all the people of Israel grumbled 

 Numbers 20:2  Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.

 Numbers 21:5   And the people spoke against God and against Moses

 Philippians 2:14    Do all things without grumbling or disputing

 Jude 1:16    These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires;

 Psalms 78:19  They spoke against God

What is grumbling? (the action or fact of complaining in a bad-tempered way) (complain, moan, groan, gripe, criticize, whine, protest, speak out against, find fault with). 

What is at the root of this grumbling? What seeds the heart and mind to grumble? What fuels grumbling in the heart and mind? (judgmental, anger, ungraciousness, faithless, hopelessness, fearful, selfishness, self-reliant, self-worth, thankless, Satan tempted, and denying God’s sovereignty, love, presence, and power)

Speaking out, (grumbling) first originates in the mind. There is a root seed of some sort that gets time in your mind. If it is not discerned, recognized for what it is, and discarded there is ample room for it to fester and grow in importance. This sin will not be recognized. Though it is a sin it is believed to be so true that it is turned into words that come out of the mouth. Being God-honoring, humble, thankful, and faithful is not even given space in your heart or mind. They have been discarded so that there is room for this unholiness to feed and grow. 

Such is the way in far too many people who call themselves Christians. The shallowness of their commitment and faith is manifested in their lack of concern for things of God and what does and does not honor and glorify Him. In times of trials and troubles, there is no depth in their faith and love of God. They have neglected and become complacent about the Word of God. In this neglect and complacency, their understanding and knowledge of God’s grace, mercy, and love fall mightily short of having any impact on their thoughts or for that matter, their lives. The sinfulness of sin and the Holiness of God are forgotten. If we neglect His Word, how are we to recognize and know what sin is? How are we to recognize a sin seed (like the beginning thoughts leading towards grumbling) in our mind? Oh, that we would read His Word with a hunger and desire to be led on paths that honor and glorify Jesus Christ.

Here are some thoughts by JC Ryles on sin:

I believe that one of the chief wants of the Church in the nineteenth century has been, and is, clearer, fuller teaching about sin. I fear there is much mental confusion and haziness on the definition of “sin” and “sinners” Sin, in short, is that vast moral disease which affects the whole human race, of every rank, and class, and name, and nation, and people, and tongue. I say, furthermore, that “ a sin,” to speak more particularly, consists in doing, saying, thinking; or imagining, anything that is not in perfect conformity with the mind and law of God. “Of course I need not tell any one who reads his Bible with attention, that a man may break God’s law in heart and thought, when there is no overt and visible act of wickedness. There are sins of omission as well as commission, that we sin. (“leaving undone the things we ought to do,”  “ doing the things we ought not to do.” ) We may live like we don’t understand this but I fail to see any Scriptural warrant for the modern assertion that “ Sin is not sin to us until we discern it and are conscious of it”.  Every single person born carries in its heart the seeds of every kind of wickedness! You will see in it the buds and germs of deceit, evil temper, selfishness, self-will, obstinacy, greediness, envy, jealousy, passion,— which, if indulged and let alone, will shoot up with painful rapidity. We shall do well to remember, that when we make our own miserably imperfect knowledge and consciousness the measure of our sinfulness, we .are on very dangerous ground. 

Refused to obey Him and thrust Him aside

Exodus 17:1   All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Psalms 95:8     do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

Hebrews 3:8-9     do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,  where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.

Exodus 34:9    And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

Deuteronomy 31:17    Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’

Acts 7:37-39    This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’  This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us.  Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt,

“Is the Lord among us or not?” “Our fathers refused to obey Him, but thrust Him aside, and in their hearts, they turned to Egypt.”  The grumbling and doubting seem to be a pattern.  I don’t think it is any different now than it was back then.  Desiring, seeking, relying on, clinging to, and trusting in God is rejected at the heart, mind, and soul level.  We are not immune to this type of thinking, however, we can take these thoughts captive and cast them out as soon as they pop into our head.  We can choose not to thrust Him aside.  We can choose not to live like He does not exist.

How are we to do this?  We need to keep God’s word in our heart and mind.  We need to intentionally change our ways according to His word and how the Holy Spirit leads us.  We need to change our way of thinking about self first and desire to do whatever it is He has planned for us.  We need to change from the way we live for self and change to living for God, seeking Him, wanting to honor and obey Him.

Commit to reading His word each day.  Listen to what His word says to your heart and mind.  Talk to God often. Walk in faith, trusting Him and His precious promises.

They Grumbled

“Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.”

Exodus 15:23  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.”

Exodus 16:2     And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,

Numbers 11:1-6     And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.

Numbers 14:2   And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!

Numbers 16:11    Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”

Numbers 16:41    But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron,

Numbers 20:2-5     Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.  And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD!  Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?  And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.”

Numbers 21:5     And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

Jude 1:16    These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires;

Philippians 2:14   Do all things without grumbling or disputing,

Matthew 6:25     “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Grumbling? What is it that creeps into our lives that make us grumble?  Can you hear it in the voice of the people in these verses?  Note how God had just split the Red Sea, the people crossed over on dry ground and the whole Egyptian army was wiped out and now there is a little test put on them with food and water.  What did they do? Grumbled.

Take a quick glance back at all the times God has been faithful in your life.  What is it that you are facing that is greater than what God can do?  Is He testing you?  Are you grumbling?  Are you looking for something other than God’s provision and timing?

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He will not change.  Yet we (I) allow doubt to creep in.  Faith does not allow doubt.  Faith waits.  Faith trusts.  Faith knows God is in control.

What ever it is that is casting doubt on God’s faithfulness – stop it – humbly seek to serve, honor, glorify, and praise Him through it.

Waiting in Faith

“but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD.”

Psalms 119:121   I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors.  Give your servant a pledge of good; let not the insolent oppress me.  My eyes long for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.  Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.  I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies!  It is time for the LORD to act, for your law has been broken.  Therefore I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold.  Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.

Psalms 119:81-82    My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.  My eyes long for your promise; I ask, “When will you comfort me?”

Psalms 69:3     I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.

Psalms 130:6     my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

Psalms 143:7     Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.

Lamentations 4:17    Our eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; in our watching we watched for a nation which could not save.

Psalms 63:6     when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

Psalms 119:147    I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.

Lamentations 2:19   “Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord!

Psalms 62:8    Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

“He looked to God alone, he looked eagerly, he looked long, he looked till his eyes ached. The mercy is, that if our eyes fail, God does not fail, nor do his eyes fail.” (Spurgeon)

This waiting expectation shows us that faith came before experience. The Psalmist was willing to have faith until the experience came, and would wait for God’s salvation, and wait as long as it took.

The Psalmist wanted understanding; but not so much to know the future or some hidden secrets of his soul or that of someone else. He wanted this understanding so that he would know the testimonies of God better.

There is much that confuses us, but none more than the interference of waiting, in faith, for God’s plan and purpose.  Waiting is good, for it keeps our heart, mind and soul desiring and seeking to see God’s provision.  Waiting takes faith.

In our waiting satan will throw many temptations of action our way – none of which, if acted upon, are going to be in line with God’s will for us.  Our actions, apart from those being God directed,  in a time of waiting will never satisfy or fulfill the need we seek

Though it does not seem like it, waiting is action – Action of the heart and mind committed and purposed to see, hear and understand the will of God.

In waiting faith we grow anticipation of God’s action.  The best place to be while waiting, is in His word feeding on His promises, grace, mercy, strength, power, and steadfast love.  It is in our waiting that we hear more clearly the whispers of His quiet small voice leading and confirming action to come.

Not my will Lord God, but yours.  Your plans are perfect for my life.  Your timing is faultless.

You will seek me and find me

Psalms 107:4  Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in;  hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.  Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.  Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

 Deuteronomy 8:15    who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock,

 Deuteronomy 32:10     “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

 Ezekiel 34:12     As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

 Numbers 14:33    And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.

 Judges 15:18-19     And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”  And God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore; it is at Lehi to this day.

 Lamentations 2:19     “Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the night watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.”

 2 Corinthians 12:8-10    Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 Jeremiah 29:12-14     Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

 2 Corinthians 1:8-10    For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

There is no changing in God.  He remains the same, creator, mighty, awesome in power, steadfast love, grace, mercy, and long-suffering toward His creation, mankind.  Life would tell us there is little that changes for mankind as our nature would experience – pleasure, pain, purpose, satisfaction, toil, trouble, sickness, death, life, joy, anger, pride, humbleness, laughter, bitterness, praise, judgmental, forgiving, and crying.   We try to find much of our way in this life apart from God.  Apart from trusting in, relying on, clinging to, and giving thanks to Him.  Even when we think we are walking each day with Him, we limit what we think He can do.  Scripture has been given to us so that we might know Him more, understand Him more, love Him more, rely on Him more, trust in Him more, run to Him faster, listen to His quiet whispers of guidance more, seek Him more, and believe in Him more.  He never changes.  He is the same today and forever.  Spend time in His word. Seek Him and you will find Him.  Sometimes we need someone to just encourage us to run to Him.  It seems so obvious but many times it is the last thing we do.