Slices
Prepare
Have you experienced a time when what God wanted you to do seemed really difficult? Did you do it or not? Either way, what was the outcome?
Bible passage
The waters of Marah and Elim
22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they travelled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, ‘What are we to drink?’
25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. 26 He said, ‘If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.’
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
Explore
Up to now, the Israelites have been travelling away from Egypt, fleeing their enemy and seeing God do miraculous things. Now the journey towards the Promised Land begins. It doesn’t start well. In spite of Exodus 14:31, adverse conditions quickly lead the people to complain, against Moses particularly. Clearly, it’s Moses’ fault that they’re thirsty.
Three days without water in dry and dusty conditions is hard to live through. The water at Marah must have seemed a wonderful sight until they tried to drink it. Jamie Buckingham,* a frequent traveller in that region, suggests that, had they been able to drink the water, the minerals would have purged them of the internal parasites and diseases they brought with them from Egypt and helped them cope with the hot weather. But this first test was too much. Moses cries out to God, a way is found for the water to become drinkable, and God makes one of his ‘If… then…’ conditional promises (v 26). Will they listen?
*J Buckingham, A Way through the Wilderness, Risky Living Ministries, Inc, 2013
Respond
It’s not easy to face up to the idea that sometimes what God wants us to do is going to be hard in some way. All of what he asks of us has his plan and purpose behind it; pray for anyone you know who is facing difficult decisions.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Jeremiah 27,28; John 11
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for Susannah Quinn, Assistant Accountant, as she processes invoices and expenses in the Finance team. Ask that God would give her attention to detail and enable her to study tax procedures alongside the work.
