Jehovah Rapha week 2

Context of Marah, the bitter water:
Exodus 15  (reference:http://www.crivoice.org/biblestudy/exodus/bbex21.html)
God had just delivered Israel and destroyed the Egyptians by means of His control of the water in the Red Sea.  Then Moses leads the Israelites into the desert and they go for three days without finding water.  Finally they came to some water and their hopes skyrocketed - only to be dashed by the bitterness of the water. It was undrinkable. The Israelites named the place "Marah", which means "bitterness."  When the Israelites came to this bitter water grumbled against their leader Moses. Moses in turn cried out to Yahweh. Yahweh showed Moses a piece of wood which Moses promptly threw into the water. Immediately the water was made sweet and the Israelites were able to drink it. Moses then led them to a place called Elim which had twelve springs and seventy palm trees.

Journaling Activity:  Has there been any bitter water (context: Exodus 15) in your lif this week?  It can be drops here and there or an entire river.  If there has, I believe this is an answer to prayer, that God is granting to you a real life practice session to know Him as your Jehovah Rapha.  When you came upon your bitter water, what was your response?

--------THINGS TO REMEMBER------------
Who brought Israelites to the bitter water?  GOD
What did the Israelites do when they came upon bitter water?  They grumbled and blamed Moses
What was Moses' response:  He led His people to God


Bitter circumstance drove Israel to grumbling and Moses to prayer.  Where do they drive you?

2 Corinthians 4:18

Warren Wiersbe wrote

The people went from rejoicing to complaining!  It is easy to sing when the circumstances are comfortable, but it takes faith to sing when you are suffering.  God tests us in the everyday experiences of life to see whether we will obey Him.  He is able to change our circumstances, but He would rather change us (Philippians 4:10-13)

This is the mistake Israel made at Marah.  Because their eyes were not on Jehovah (and they literally should have been since He was there in a pillar of fire by night & smoke by day), they grumbled and blamed God's appointed leader Moses for the bitter water.  When God surely and wisely leads us to a "Marah experience" our response is a telltale indication of where our eyes are.  When they are not on the Lord, we grumble loudly and blame our wife, our employer, our friend, or our government.  Who have you blamed this week?

Our perception of Marah, our response, makes the water taste different. The water became "Marah" AFTER Israelites grumbled and complained.




Why do God bring us to bitter water?

To test the genuiness of our faith


Where do we go in times like this, when we are at this bitter water?  Remember- God is one who brought the Israelites to the bitter water, and HE is the one that made the bitter water sweet- by the log


Where are our eyes set on?
ON HEALING:

When our eyes are focused on ourselves, rather than having an understanding of what God desires, we may be interpreting "Healing" as something that WE desire to see; that is not a proper understanding of "HEALING"








When you come to Marah, the bitter water, cry out to Jehovah Rapha and then cling to the Tree He made available at Calvary