Exodus 15 Bible Study (Song of Moses/Bitter Water Made Sweet) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Book of Exodus chapter 15. This is what we're gonna do since, this is a song. We're gonna read the whole thing. We're gonna read up to verse 18, but just picture in your mind hundreds of thousands of Israelites coming over the Red Sea and they singing this all together with one voice. It's a powerful picture.

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord saying, I will sing to the Lord for he is triumphantly gloriously, the horse and his rider he is thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name.

Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them. They went down to the depths like a stone. Your right hand, oh Lord, glorious in power. Your right hand, oh Lord, shatters the enemy.

In the greatness of your majesty, you overthrow your adversaries. You send out your fury, it consumes them like stubble. At the blast of your nostrils, the water piled up. The flood stood up in a heap. The deeps congealed in the heart of the sea, congealed in the heart of the sea.

The enemy said I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil of my desire, shall have this fill of them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. You blew with your wind, the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like you, oh Lord, among the gods?

Who is like you majestic in holiness, awesome and glorious deeds doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them. You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed. You have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. We'll just end there.

Father, we thank you that this is just some of the truths we are reading in this song. And as we complete this chapter, would you guide us through these lyrics, through these truths, through why we sing and all the different things that are found in this glorious text. We pray that your spirit, Lord, would be in this place so obviously and so tangibly. Your word says the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Your word also says that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

And so Lord as your word and as the spirit come together in unity, we pray God that you would transform lives, God. In the unity of these two things, spirit and truth, set hearts free. Father guide us, guide our lips, touch our mouths. Lord fill us with faith by the end of this night as we give thanks unto you. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. At the end of, Exodus 14, we know what happens. It's the familiar story of the people crossing the Red Sea. Let's just read from verse 30 before we go into 15 again in chapter 14. Thus, the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians so that people fear the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. The Israelites experienced deliverance, and the response to the deliverance is verse one of chapter 15. Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord. Singing is the result of a person who's experienced deliverance. A person who has experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ receive so much out of that wonderful experience.

But one of those things that is added to their life is a singing spirit. You learn how to sing. You adopt a song in your heart, and you develop that singing spirit as you move on in this life. And I just praise God for his providence. Just even last week, there was an individual, I don't know if he's here, but he mentioned something yesterday, and he asked a question, why do you guys sing?

And he wasn't criticizing. He was really genuinely wanting to know, I don't understand why you guys come together, and there are lyrics on the screen, and you guys all repeat the words at the same time, and there's tunes. Why do you sing? And that was just really the trigger for a bunch of other questions that they have, but I find that question something very important. We addressed that on Sunday morning, but some people won't hear that Sunday morning, so we're gonna talk about it today.

If you were to be asked that question, why do you sing? How would you be able to answer? Why do Christians sing? Can you think of another faith that comes together and sings passionately like this? Unless there are obviously cults that try to imitate the Christian faith.

But in our hearts, why why is singing such an important component of our faith? Why Why is it something that we put so much emphasis on? Can you imagine cutting out all the commands in the Bible that says sing to the Lord? Think about how much is put on this thing called singing and if we really are honest with ourselves, unless we study this, we don't really know why we sing. It's just kind of the thing that we grew up doing.

It's kind of just a reflex. It's something that you just have a habit of, yeah, we do this before and after after a message, but why? What's the theology of singing? And a preacher asked this question once, and it was such a marvelous question. He he said, I get invited to to speak to worship bands, and we we talked about this with the worship team at one point.

I get invited to speak to worship bands and worship leaders, and, he said, honestly, I don't know why they they bring me because I'm not in worship. I don't have any musical gifts, but when they do come, I ask this one question to every worship team. In your study of worship in the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, what did you develop in your theology of song? Or is it just something that we just kind of adopted from what we've seen and what we we experienced in different churches? But what does the Bible say about singing?

Why do we do it? So throw it out there. Why do we sing? Yes.

It's like expressing our emotions, like altogether in the same way.

Expressing our emotions.

Like towards God.

Towards God. Yes, Madison? Rejoicing in the Lord. Rejoicing in the Lord. Celebration.

Celebration. Never forgetting his promises and his deeds and what he's done for us. So it's a way of remembering his deeds and his promises.

Give him

praise with our voices.

Give him praise with our voices. Why do we sing? I mean, we could have done a lot of other things in order to celebrate and to remember the promises of God, but why is song out of all things? It's a form of thanksgiving, but can't we thank him without singing? Thank you, Lord.

That's thanksgiving.

Worship. It's a

form of worship. Sure. There's different ways of worship, though. Singing is just a part of worship. True worship, as we know, is a lifestyle that's obedient to God.

Yes. And James says, if anyone among you suffer and stand and praise anyone who is cheerful, let him say praise. So it shows our joyful heart, and

So it's just an expression of joy? It's a form of expression? Yes?

So I think it's like it's something that God gave us and we're giving it back. It's like a talent that God gave us, something we enjoy. Like we enjoy listening to music, so it's giving back

to God. So is it part of our human nature to enjoy

music? Yes. Is it depth of the soul connected with the lord?

Is it depth of the soul? Yes. Well, music in itself stirs emotions, like, creates a movement or atmosphere. It stirs emotion? Okay.

Yes. Unity of the body. K. What way? There's really no other way where we're doing the same thing at the same time.

You need you need the body of Christ. Yeah. It's a huge aspect actually. Yes. Samantha, you're gonna be Yeah.

I guess in hard times it reminds people of, their purpose. Like, Jesus, when he was doing the last supper, they sang him to him. There you see so many times that Paul, when he was in prison, they sang just, like, think the remembrance of, like, who God is

and what we're doing and all that.

Yes. So we see a practice. It's not foreign.

Okay. When God created Lucifer, he made him perfect to sing, and, singing is a singing is a very integral part of describing with emotion and with, words in a melody, who that is and the greatness of who he is.

A lot of people have been mentioning emotion. That's very interesting. Any other reason why we sing?

I think it serves emotion, but it shouldn't be about our emotions. I don't know if you

So it does stir emotions, but it shouldn't be about our emotions. Yes. Yes, Tim. I mean, singing is such

a powerful and deep expression of of the human heart, of our longings, and it has such a communal element to it. Mhmm. It unites people. It brings people together. When you're singing together, it unites, people in a way unlike many other things.

And I've seen music around the world, how people sing everywhere, whether it's a religious context or not. But it it just seems to be a way in which we can express the deeper, more transcendent, realities of life that words without melody may not be able to do. And I I can't

also Yes.

I can't personal language. Yeah. Well

Yeah. And I can't

help think of Zephaniah two three seven seven nine three seventeen No. Exulting over us in Solomon. And how he has instilled in us this ability to sing in light of him sort of singing us into existence and singing over us in love. Wonderful.

We're all touching on it. But I just wanna read these scriptures to show how singing is a response to deliverance. David in second Samuel 22. You don't have to go there. Just you can hear these out.

David in second Samuel 22, it says, and David spoke to the Lord these words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He sang song and led to the deliverance he experienced from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. Saul. Isaiah twelve two says this, behold God is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.

God is my salvation. He is my deliverer. The response to that experience, the response to that truth, the the response to him doing that work of deliverance is I sing. I sing to the Lord. I give him these words mixed with melody, and I want to challenge you with this thought.

Not only is it a result of salvation, it's actually the evidence of somebody that's filled with the Holy Spirit. It's the evidence, one of the evidences of somebody that actually has the Holy Spirit totally possessing them. Now we all have a Holy Spirit when we get saved. That's the indwelling, but we can't mix up the indwelling with the filling. And so we all have the fullness of the spirit, but that does not mean the Holy Spirit has all of us.

It's a big difference. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is a command. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is a different state of Christianity than those who are not filled with the Holy Spirit, and it's completely up to us if we wanna be filled with the Holy Spirit. And this is the text, Ephesians five eighteen to 19, and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit, addressing one another in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Now we have to make a disclaimer here.

Not everybody that claims to be Christian and that sings Christian things proves that they are filled with the Holy Spirit. Because there is a song that you can sing and it'd be totally displeasing to the Lord. Amos five twenty three says, I hate the sound of your songs and I will not listen to the melody of your hearts until justice and righteousness flows like a stream. So we can sing truths about God, we can sing Christian things, but not live the Christian life, and that's detestable to God. But pure and genuine song out of the heart of a man is the evidence of somebody who's taking this command of not getting drunk off wine, but being filled with the Holy Spirit.

They just want to sing. It bubbles up inside of them to sing these songs unto the Lord. And so he says here, right, when someone drinks, they are possessed by another element. There is an influence over them, and when you are influenced enough, your actions are not determined by another source. And so the question is, well, how do I get filled with the Holy Spirit?

And somebody pointed out this observation, well, how do you get drunk? You drink and you drink and you drink and you drink until that substance has influence over your body, over your emotions, over your dealings, over your speech. And in the same way, in order for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, we must do what the Bible says in order for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Intake a scripture, praying Luke eleven thirteen, and as we intake, and as we intake, and as we soak ourselves in prayer, as we saturate ourselves in the closet, we, so to speak, intoxicate ourselves with the substance of God himself. And so sometimes we say, how do we fill the Holy Spirit?

Fill me with the Holy Spirit, Lord. And sure, he can do it. He can do anything, but that's like and I don't wanna be too graphic here, somebody thinking they can get drunk off of just one sip of alcohol. It's the intake, the the taking of a substance and letting it overwhelm you, and it's your responsibility to come into that place and say, I'm going to fill myself with the things I need to fill myself with in order for the spirit of God to have total control of who I am. Total control of every faculty of my being, of my thoughts, of my speech.

And what happens then is when a person is filled with God, they just like to sing. They long to sing. It's just the old folk. You don't have to force them to sing. They kinda just walk around the house and they're singing songs.

They're driving on their way to work and they're just singing melodies to the Lord. Their voice is terrible, but it doesn't matter Because it's just the overflow of of their hearts. You know, there are a lot of people that say this. Well, don't don't you get don't you get bored of Christian music? I mean, don't you have to, like, switch it up a little bit?

Don't you don't you have to listen to this and to that and that? And I'm not here to debate music right now. I'm just trying to say that when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you sing as a result of it. And you can't stop singing, and you can sing, and you can and you long to sing, and you enjoy worship music. And it's a result of the Holy Spirit taking full position of who you are.

And so we need to understand that singing is a very New Testament experience. It's something that we are to seek after. But why singing? I mean, why can't you be filled with the holy spirit and you can do this? Why, once again, why that action?

Why that practice? And we mentioned a few things that you mentioned one of them, because we're created in the image of God. That's one reason. How do we connect singing, me singing as a Christian, to being created in the image of God? Well, with that scripture right there, Zephaniah three seventeen.

Let me read this to you and let it minister to your heart, because it's intended to minister to our hearts. He says here, the Lord your God is in your midst. Now he's talking about the millennial reign. He's talking about when God will restore the nation of Israel, and he will be in the midst in a manifested way. A mighty one who will save.

He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exalt over you with loud singing. God sings. Can you imagine what his voice sounds like?

God sings over us. Like a father or a mother mother who cradles their child in their arms and sings over them. It is the response of his heart towards us. See, we sing to God because we're redeemed, and God sings over us because we are redeemed. And we are the result of his grace.

And he sings. And God sings, so guess what? His children are gonna sing as well. We're created in his image. The triune God sings.

What a picture. What else can we say about Psalm? It pleases him. When he hears us singing, there's a pleasing aroma that's given unto him. And to one of my favorite Psalms, it's in Psalm 69.

This is a powerful Psalm. Psalm 69 verse 30. I will praise the name of God with a song with a song. I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hooves.

My song will please God more than a burnt offering. My song will please God more than a mature animal being slaughtered with the blood being spilled placed on us. That's a part of the sacrificial system. Why do you think that is? Why would the Psalmist say that my song will please the Lord more than any sacrifice.

Sacrifices are important. Because the song can do anything. The song could be about earthly things or just earthly things or something that's going on in your life. But when you choose to use that gift to exalt God, you choose to use your free will to exalt God, it's a pleasing moment. That's a good that's a good argument.

Wouldn't you say that your music, that your song, that your energy, that your tune, that your gift can be given over for your glory to glorify the things of the world, but instead you take all of those things and you direct them towards God himself. And Hebrews 13 tells us that it is a sacrifice of praise. It is a sacrifice of praise.

Yes. This Saturday, you could say it

takes more and more. More focus and more energies because you said to do that is not just you're speaking words. You're you're forming that into something more. And in that sense, it's more than just your words you're giving to him. Yes.

So there's something about the whole man being engaged in the song. My mind, my strength, my heart, my emotions, all these things are now being engaged in this act of praise Ontell him.

Yes. So like, back when you said about being filled with the holy spirit, the the mouth speaks where the heart is full of, and it's if it's gratitude towards God,

I just try to picture the fact that when we sing, it it pleases God. Especially when that song is is not hypocritical to how we live. But when we live that life and the song is just the overflow of us seeking God and being filled with God, it pleases him. It pleases him. It pleases him.

Alright. And on a practical level, somebody mentioned this, there is a memorable quality of singing that is important for our sanctification. There is a memorable quality about singing. Some of you have heard a commercial or a jingle and you just hear it and you hear it and you can't you don't wanna listen to it, you don't wanna hear it in your head, but it's there. Because there's something about a tune with words that brings about memory and and and brings about a truth that is memorable, and that's what song is.

Is. And we know does anybody know which chapter in Deuteronomy God commands Moses to tell the people to sing the song before they go into the land of Canaan? One before that. 32. Deuteronomy 32.

Out Out of all the things that God asked Moses to do for the people to learn something, he says sing a song. And sing the song to them and let them sing the song for generations to come that they may be reminded of so and so and this and that. That's so vital. That's a New Testament thing as well. Colossians three sixteen.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom and insight. Singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs. With melodies in your hearts to the Lord. Right?

So not only do we come together and sing to the Lord, but we're actually addressing one another in song. And this is familiar to some

of us that when we went through this on

a Sunday morning. But we're hearing declarations of faith by other people as they're singing to the Lord and about the Lord. And something happens in that place. Faith is built up. Doubts are diminished.

It's a witness to the world that when the body of Christ comes together and we sing unto him in unity, It says something. It can even be evangelistic. It's that powerful. And so song is vital. We don't skip the worship, so we can sleep in a little bit and get to the message.

Your voice is missing, and because your voice is missing, somebody's not hearing. And if somebody's not hearing, they're not gonna experience that sanctification process that they could have experienced if you just showed up a little earlier. And so we have to understand how important singing is, which tells me what? Tells us this, that what we sing about is very important. The words that we sing, the lyrics that we sing, we're gonna talk about what is being addressed even in this specific song.

It is powerful force. It is a powerful force. So it's a it's a tool for the sake of memory. It's a teaching element to sing to God, about God, to one another. Okay?

Good? And we know why we sing when we come. It's not them though. Singing on earth is a foretaste of our heavenly destination. Singing on earth is a foretaste of our heavenly destination.

I'm just gonna read this scripture. We have a lot of scripture today, but don't feel like you have to, just just listen to this. Revelations fifteen three. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire. And also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God and the song of the lamb. The song of Moses song of Moses you better get familiar with this one because we're gonna be singing it in heaven. People debate whether it's Exodus 15 or Deuteronomy 32, maybe both. Either one, both are important. We're gonna be singing the song of Moses and the song of the lamb.

What are what do the two have in common? I believe the two that have that are so at least one element that brings these two songs together is the fact that they are both singing about the deliverance of the blood of the lamb. Right? They're singing about the Passover lamb delivering them. We sing about our Passover lamb.

This is a foreshadow of Jesus. And so we're singing about the redemption power of Christ. And when we sing, we get a foretaste of what heaven's gonna be like. And it stirs us so we'd be better enjoying singing because that's what we're gonna be doing in heaven. It's amazing.

We try and somebody says it's a universal language. Who said that? I heard that out there. It's a universal language. It's a beautiful way of putting it.

And when we do get to heaven, it will be different tribes and tongues, and we have a little bit of that here now. It's papa, it does something. And you can walk into a church and you don't know the language that they're preaching, but when there's a song and you know the tune, it doesn't matter what language that you can sing with it. Right? We had, like, gift thanks in Arabic, maybe you didn't understand the Arabic, but you knew the tune and you sang in English.

There's a there's a bonding element to singing. It's important for us to really take worship seriously. And some of you guys have mentioned this, which is surprising because well, for different reasons, but singing singing stirs the heart in a special way. Singing stirs the heart. And what and what?

How does it stir the heart? What does singing do to this? Enjoy. Enjoy it.

Sure. Puts it out in the open.

Puts it out in the open? Sure. Does it do something to me? What does it do? Refocus.

Refocus? Sure. Yes. But does it stir something with me? Does it stir up passion?

Is that a fair thing to say? Does it stir up certain emotions? Does it stir up a certain feeling towards God? Now is that necessarily wrong? This is my conviction.

Maybe you would disagree with this, but that's okay because there's a lot of controversy around worship, so I totally understand it. But I believe singing takes the truths of God in words and combines them with a melody or a tune that has the ability to touch and arouse the emotions of a man and direct them toward God. There's something about when you sing it with a tune that reaches a part of you that would not be touched otherwise to some degree, not all the time. For me to sing, and I'm not gonna do it, but to sing how great is our you know? Okay.

There I did. I'm sorry. How great is our God For me to sing how great is our God, there's some And I You can just imagine it. It's different than me to say, how great is our God. Right?

Just immediately right there, you know that there are some strings that are being pulled in your heart towards the Lord. And I know why people are afraid of afraid of emotion, because there's an instability and a deceptiveness about it, and it can be manipulated, so we kinda we kinda put that down and say, no, no, no. And, listen, it's not emotion, it's emotionless and that we have to be careful of. That when we seek out those things as an end within themselves, to say, I just gotta sing this too because it just makes me feel a certain way, that's where it can get dangerous, because our singing, as we heard, is not dependent upon how we feel. But it has the ability to hear me.

It has the ability to reach out and touch a certain part of your soul that takes those emotions that are God given and that are given to other things anyway. What song does is takes those emotions and directs them towards the holy one. There's nothing wrong with that necessarily, but there are days where you're not gonna sing and feel something because it's a sacrifice of praise. What I'm trying to say here is that it has the ability to stir our emotions, and it's not the music per se, it's the words that are being assisted with the music that should stir us. So our emotions are not being stirred by the tune per se, but the words that are being declared with those songs and those tunes and those melodies that reach our hearts and say, yes.

And so what it does is it takes truth and doesn't let it just sit in our minds, it comes down to our hearts, and it stirs our affections towards God. That's a beautiful thing. That's the power of worship. That's why it can be a force for good or a force for manipulation. Right?

You can stir up emotions in a meeting and have people decide something based on just how they're feeling because they just sang the right song, the lights were down in the right That that's where it can get dangerous. We get people so heated to make a decision or a vow based on just emotion that was being built up in a place. But nevertheless, there is a truth about it where it can touch us in a certain way, and we are allowing now the mind and the heart being engaged towards God. That's the power of music. Any questions about that?

Is there any other insight you can say of why we sing? These are some reasons why we do it. This is why God has created us to do it and has commanded us to do it. Any other ideas? Can you think of examples where music has stirred somebody in the bible?

It was Saul.

Saul. Here's your medicine, Saul. David's gonna come and sing over you or play over you, and that's gonna soothe you. Is there another example? Elisha.

Elisha. Does anybody know what example she's thinking of? Elisha the prophet in second Kings chapter three verse 13. Elisha is a prophet. The kingdoms are divided, and we have the Southern Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom partnering up to go to war.

And they're in a pickle, so they come up to Elisha and they say, Elisha, we need a word from the Lord. Elisha's like, why don't you go to your prophets? Why are you coming to me? You have all your little gang over there that wanna give you a word, go over to them. And finally, they convince him and he says, if it wasn't for this guy, he points to Jeroboam, I would not be doing this.

And he's so vexed. He's in a place where he's so stern in anger, he goes, bring me a musician. And the musician comes, plays, and says that the word of the Lord came to him, in, and he was able to minister. So what's the principle that music has the power to take your emotions, to soothe your soul, to serenity, to bring you to a place where you are still and calm. To be able to do be who you need to be.

Now, that's powerful. That's powerful. That's how music can influence the soul of man. So we see those examples there. Now, when we come to the song, and I didn't read through all of it just because I wanna get into it as much as we can.

When you look overall at this song, there's something that we should recognize in the the things that we just read, because there are important elements now of the substance of the song. We know why we sing. We know why we do it now, but, again, it's not just why we do it, it's how we do it. It's not why we do it, it's how we do it. Just as you stand over this song, what elements do you see here point to how we should sing or the components of a song that should be important to us, the dumb?

These qualities that we see here. Let me give you let me just we'll start it off and we'll go from there. Verse 11. They sang about who god is. Verse 11.

Who is like you, oh lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome and glorious deeds, doing wonders? When we sing, we should be singing about who god is. There's one again. Just for a second, just look through and see what other components do we look at to to implement in our worship.

Yes. It seems about specific things God has done. Specific things God has done. Right. So can you find a verse where you can say that?

Yeah. Nine to 10. Okay. The enemy said I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil that my desire shall have. It's filled of them.

I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. You blew with your way the sea covered them. They sang by glad and mighty wise. Absolutely. So specific things that God has done.

Specific testimonies. The cross, the blood, the resurrection, the burial. Miracles, you are great, you do miracles so great, you split the Red Sea. All these different things, absolutely. What other components?

Yes. Powerful. Who the Lord is to you personally. What does the same verse do? The Lord is our strength?

No. No. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This is my God. I will praise him.

My father's God and I will exalt him. There's this personal element in worship. You have every right to sing to the lover of your soul. Say you are the lover of my soul. You are my closest friend.

You did deliver. You did take me up from the Miami Plate. And so there's this personal element to it too. So there's license for me to say, you're my God. You're my king.

You're my shepherd. You're mine. Right? Absolutely. Well, this this is so great.

What else do we see here? So we mentioned who God is, what God has done, the personal element of worship. What he will do. What he will do. You guys are nailing it tonight.

What he will do, where do we see that?

Verse 17.

Verse 17. You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, oh lord, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, oh lord, which your hands have established. So it's not just thinking about what he has done, it's thinking about what he will do. This is important. If you're in any type of worship ministry, pay attention.

What he will do, the resurrection, heaven, the glories to come, our inheritance, all these things. So it it has an element now of building faith. So it's not just for Thanksgiving, it's for a future purpose that we are now looking forward and singing about the things to come. Yes. Anything else?

There's one little detail. We're like four for five right now. Somebody gets this.

Is this like the attributes of God?

Yes. The attributes of God. Yes. And I would say more specifically, so we talk about what God has done, what God will do, but I see in one little verse what God can do right now. What God can do right now.

If you see here, in verse six, your right hand, oh lord, glorious in power. Your right hand, oh lord, shatters the enemy. So we can sing about what he can do in this moment. We can seek God now in song and say, lord, you have done this, you will do this, but, Lord, we believe by faith and sing as though you can do it right now. So we see all these important things, these important ingredients when it comes to seeing unto the Lord.

Who he is, seeking him personally, seeking him corporately, seeking him concerning what he can do, what he has and what he will do in the future. And all those truths, we have every right to couple them with a tune and to rejoice over them. Absolutely. So they sing, and now we get a picture of what that looks like in verse 19. For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them.

But the people of Israel walked on dragging out ground in the midst of the sea. Then Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after with tambourines and dancing. So we see it gives us a sum of why they're doing this because they saw a great deliverance, and then we come to a picture of Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron who took a tambourine in her hand and all of them. So just just just for the sake of a quiz. Let's see.

It's side note. It has nothing to do with the theme of what we're talking about. Who can name a different prophetess in the Old Testament? On the bible. Deborah is one.

Yes. Who else? Anna. Anna is one in the New Testament. Luke chapter two.

Yes. Philip's daughter's prophesied. Oh, look at that one. Philip's daughters were not married yet to prophesied. Anything else?

I don't know if

that makes any sense about Pilate's wife.

Oh, I see. Because she she had the dream. There isn't a specific title given to her as prophetess, but we're getting creative. I like it. What else can we say?

Who else is labeled as a prophetess?

There's a woman who who's,

You got it, man. You just gotta get the name. You got it. We'll give it to you. Her name is anybody know?

Holda. Hold up the prophetess. This is in second Kings. Second Kings twenty two fourteen. There's an unnamed prophetess in Isaiah eight, and there is another prophetess in Nehemiah six fourteen, and people argue she was a false prophetess.

So we see this idea of prophetess. So what's a prophetess? A female prophet. What's a prophet? A messenger of God, a spokesperson for God.

Right? Do you have anything there? The little girls? Right. So we see these little hints here and there, and so what we're seeing here is Miriam being a prophetess.

So that says something about who she is. She is a spokesperson for God. She is somebody that is obviously gifted. And in Micah six four, I'll just read these verses. Look what it says about not just Miriam, but Aaron and Moses.

For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I set before you Moses and Aaron and Miriam. So we do we kinda just put the emphasis on Moses, and that's okay because Moses is the head leader. But we see that Moses, Aaron, and Miriam were leaders in delivering the people out of Israel. We see that she was a gifted worship leader, and she led these women in worship. We see that she was a spokesperson for God, and we see in numbers 12 that she kind of messed up.

That even with her gifting and her ability and the specific avenue that she'd been given, unfortunately, her heart was open to jealousy and envy towards her brother. And just reading that personally, just looking at that, caused me to even just say, Lord, help me. And there should be a prayer for all this. Help me to know my calling. Help me to know the grace that you have given me and to rejoice in the callings of other people.

Amen. Because Micah tells us they they were a team. There's no room for this stuff. But she allowed it, and which is sad because from numbers 12, it it it's kinda silent about it. Then you go to numbers 20, it's like Miriam died.

And so we don't wanna start well and finish, like, but it causes us. It causes us to say, lord, Ephesians two ten, what are the good works that you set before me that I should walk in them? Walk in what God has given you. Don't try to get into somebody other's lane. Leave that lane for them.

God gave Moses that specific assignment. We see here that she was a singer. We see here that she was a worship leader. We see that Aaron was a high priest. And we see Moses was the spokesperson for God who had the rod of authority Guard your hearts.

Look, we don't have to go too deep into jealousy, but jealousy is so ugly it has no balance. It has no balance, and we've heard this more than once. It doesn't matter what gender, a guy can be dressed up in jealousy, a girl, vice versa. It doesn't matter if it's siblings. It is a it it is so ugly.

It just has no limitation. There's no restriction to how jealousy can affect even the closest relationships, and the scary part is it didn't start that way. Eventually, down the line, somehow, some for some reason, Miriam allowed her heart to be open to that. In the beginning, it was great. I mean, Moses did an amazing thing.

She's singing and dancing. She's doing her own thing, but over time, over time, and this is an argument from silence, so don't quote me on this, but I believe that one of the reasons why Moses was Moses was because he was a man who practiced the presence of God. Moses messed up. He did. Eventually, he did mess up.

I'm not saying that if you spend time with the Lord all the time that your flesh can't get at you sometimes. But if you look at him overall, if you just look at his life, Hebrews 11 comments on him so well. This man practiced the presence of God. This man met with God. This man valued God more than his calling.

He just said, I just want your glory. I just want your presence. See, when you're like that, you don't end up like this. But the moment you begin to value what you do for God more than who you are in Christ, it gets dangerous. Identity crisis.

So we see that Miriam started really well, but her her heart was vacant. And so even her own brother that she helped save as a baby. The one who did ministry with me allowed this ugly thing called jealousy creep into her heart. So, Lord, help me. Know my calling and to know the grace that you've given me to rejoice in the callings of others.

But there is a beautiful picture of how they're singing here. I mean, it's descriptive. It's not necessarily prescriptive, meaning it's describing what's happening. It's not telling us it's not telling us that somebody has to get up every Sunday or Friday and tap a tambourine, everybody has to dance. But there is a certain truth to this and it's what?

Passion. Let me give you a quote by John Wesley, who gave this as an introduction to one of his hymnals. He said this. Listen carefully. Sing lustily and with good courage.

Beware of singing as if you were half dead or half asleep, but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, no more ashamed of it being heard, than when you sang the songs of Satan. Meaning, when you were in the world and you used to sing those songs that the world sings that glorifies the things of the flesh and the enemy, you had no problem singing really loud at that concert. You couldn't even hear it and you left deaf. So sing with just as much passion in the house of God and your devotion to God with strength.

Not weird and drawing attention to yourself, but enable your whole man to come into worship towards the Lord. John Wesley. So we see here in verse 22 what happens. They sing to the Lord, and, oh, how quickly see me can turn into something else. 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 they cried to the Lord.

The Lord showed him a log or a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. And now with all that hoopla, all the tambourine dancing, what happened? Life happens. And this is where we don't let what our circumstances bring to us determine how we feel about God, or know about God, or worship God, or devoted to God. What can we say about these verses?

Can we be honest? Yes, Christine. Go ahead. Yes. Not grateful.

Not grateful? Sure. Can we just be honest, though, Sofia? Yes. Go ahead.

It's like the flesh is taking over. Like, now that they're thirsty, they're, like, weak in the flesh. And when you weaken

the flesh, your spirit, like, gets

weak in a way.

Yeah. There's an element in which the flesh can influence the spirit, the truths of the spirit, the realities of the spirit. Yes. So now there's a need. But I said this, can you just be honest?

Let's just be honest. They're not creating that meal that they missed. Three days without water. K? Three days without water.

That's a lot of time. This is a necessary desire here. This is not something outlandish. K. They're not asking for the newest this or the newest that.

They're like, oh, God. Why not? Water, an element of life and to live, is not being delivered to them within three days. And so there is a need here. Yes.

Interesting. After three days, most people will die if they don't have water. There's no water at

all just to get the

So it's a fourth quarter, three seconds left, no time outs kind of thing. God has to show up. Right? This is a need. This is a genuine need that the people have.

And who's involved in this need? We have Moses and the people of Israel. Two types of people in the same situation, and two types of responses to the same situation. Right? We have verse 24, the people complain to Moses, and we have verse 25, Moses cries out to God.

Two responses to the same situation. One cries to God, one cries to the leader. And so this is the lesson that we see here, that complaining is easier, but it doesn't produce anything. Praying is hard, but at least you get some results. Complaining is easier.

Why? Because it's just a a thing of the flesh. We we're so easily pulled down by complaining because it's just there. But prayer is against you, flesh doesn't wanna pray, but one produces results. One thinks it produces results, but it doesn't do anything.

There's no response up to verse 24, there is a response up to verse 25. And this is what happens here, Moses cries out to the Lord, and there's a solution. The people complain and there's no solution. I love how both both of these people experienced the same thing with the Red Sea. The Red Sea represented a situation in which God takes you through.

The water of Mara is a situation that needs to be changed. Do you see that? God can do both in your life. God can take you through a situation, doesn't deliver you necessarily from it, or God can change the situation completely. And it's our job to just seek him in prayer and for him to do what he wants to do with whatever we're facing.

You understand what I'm trying to say? And so we see here that prayer has an effect on what's in front of us and what's before us. Moses prays and what happens? What's the result of his praying? The result of not praying is you don't see what other people see.

Moses prayed. God says, here's a log. Now, if you had not prayed, you wouldn't know that a log would solve the problem. But, see, when you and I pray with whatever we're facing, when the whole world is screaming about complaining and freaking out, what happens? It clears the air.

The servant is deposited. Solutions are given. Wisdom is given. All these things that come through the channel of prayer, that doesn't come from complaining. It comes to prayer.

And when he prays, he sees something natural and God gives him a hint, I'm gonna turn this natural thing into something supernatural. He gives him a solution. He gives him insight to things that he didn't have beforehand. I doubt that if Moses didn't pray, they would be like, alright, nobody freaked out. I took a tree and threw it into the water just off of his own head.

It's because God whispered something into Moses because he cried out to him. Yes. I love well, there's two things. One thing I love how they ask for water. God doesn't give them plain old water.

He gives them something so much better. He gives them something sweet, something that they will actually enjoy. And not only that, but from the way it's described, it doesn't seem like they didn't have water. Because God didn't send them water. He sent them a law to throw into water.

So it sounded like there's only water there. So I guess that's a question. Were they, like, refusing to drink it just as it was? The water was bitter. Is that what you're asking?

Yeah. So the water was bitter and they're refusing to drink it. Right. There's a quality of the water that they just could not drink. So it was just something that could've made them feel sick, that could've tasted gross.

If you've ever tasted something that wasn't good, I don't think you wanna drink it. And so there was just this complaint out of it. And I just once again, it comes back to the response that Moses cries out and it just drains out the confusion, it drains out frustration, and it results in a solution. Right? Results in a solution.

And sometimes we are so overwhelmed with what's before us that we don't think about prayer. We think about moving around and complaining, looking at, and blaming people just

like what they did in the Red Sea

when the the Egyptians came. Hey, Moses. What's up, man? There was no graves in Egypt for you to bring us out here so we can all die in this field or something. And Moses cries out to God, and God says, take your snake.

Take your staff. Rub it above them. Now he cries out, okay. Now take that stick. Take this stick so to speak this log and throw it into the log.

There's a solution in prayer. That's the that's the reflex that we must have with whatever with whatever we see before us. And so what happens, it tastes that bitter water, it turns it sweet, and like you mentioned, in some level, even with the Red Sea, he doesn't automatically make things happen though he does sometimes, it requires human responsibility. Even in the miraculous, in some level, God requires us to act in faith for him to do something. Lift up your staff, throw the log, fill the jars, ceremonial jars with water, when Jesus did the miracle of the wedding.

All these different things that, yes, he'll do, but it requires us to be involved with what he wants to do. So, two different responses to the same situation, that's what we see here. But there's also another lesson. Does anybody know the name Naomi gave herself when she came back to Bethlehem? Also, it's not just water that can get bitter.

People can get bitter too. People can get bitter too. Anger, hurt, resentment, because of a bad experience or because you were a recipient of unjust treatment. That's what bitterness is all about. And Mara, bitter, was what?

Naomi gave herself and she asked her, but call me Mara, because the Lord has dealt with me in a certain way. And like bitter water, bitter people become ineffective in their intended purpose. Like bitter water, bitter people are not effective in what they were purposed to do. In fact, like bitter water, they're distasteful and nobody wants to be around you. And they can't benefit anything from you when you are supposed to be a source of living water flowing from you.

But what bitterness does is it poisons your attitude, it poisons your character, poisons the way you deal with people and how you look at life. And that's what Naomi was at one point. She allowed those circumstances to literally have her change her name. She's like, I just wanna be known as bitter. And in the bible, we know that names often speak of the character of a person.

But I would argue the same solution that was given to this pond or whatever amount of water there was here at Mara is the same solution for a very person. Throw that log into the water, throw that tree to the water, and then turn that darn thing sweet. Now we have a different tree, it's a tree of Calvary. It's a tree of Calvary. And when you and I look at Calvary and we see how Jesus was treated unjustly, when we gaze upon how the perfect son of God was treated, though he had no sin or deceit in his mouth, and we line up how people have treated us in light of that, it can turn your bitterness into sweetness.

And you realize that you and I are imperfect, that you and I have made mistakes, that you and I have sinned against God 10,000 times over, and things happen in this life. We have no reason to be bitter when we see the cross. When we look at that tree and realize what he's done, the cross is able to melt the most bitter heart to something so sweet. So it's a prophetic picture, I believe, as well. So, yeah, there are bitter people, but there is a solution, and it's the cross.

There, the Lord made for them

a statue that are ruled, 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 these diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians. God is in my favor. I treat the Egyptians one way, I'll treat you in a certain way. Here's the condition. Just obey my rules.

For I am the lord, you're healer. Do you believe god can heal today? Amen. God god can heal today. He is able to heal.

I love verse 27. Then they came to Adam, where there were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees, and they camped there by the water. That doesn't sound like Mara to me. So what's happening here? Think of it in light of a journey.

They're in a journey right now. And in life, there are times where you will be in Mara, and there are times where you will be in Adam. In life, there are times where you don't feel like God is responding. You don't feel like there's some sense of joy per se, or there's just some sense of communion, whatever it may be. These different sensations that come through wilderness journeys, but there are other times and other moments in life where you're in an oasis, and you're in joy, you're in paradise, heaven on earth, so to speak.

And so, I believe this verse 27, in light of everything, is just a picture of the Christian walk, that there are days where we're walking and it seems like forever since something has happened, since we've received a touch from Him, since we've experienced Him, since we've had this testimony of Him, and it causes us to be anxious, and it causes us to wonder, and it could even cause us to complain, It can cause us to be unfaithful, but we have to understand that there are times also where there is an oasis, in which you are overwhelmed by his blessing, overwhelmed by his touch, where you're getting a taste of heaven on earth. And, this is the important lesson, whether you're in Mara or in Ellen, we must be faithful. We must be faithful. We must be dependent upon him. We must walk by faith, not by sight.

We must believe that he knows what we need at the right moment. We must believe and trust in his leadership. Our hearts must remain in that place once again with David, whether you're in a cave or a mountaintop or a valley. He deserves our worship, and he deserves our praise, and he deserves to be sought after. And so know this, that there are Mara's in our life and there are Elms in our life, and he is worthy of our devotion in both.

He's worthy of our faithfulness in both. He's worthy of our obedience in both. And maybe you're like me, but I'm in Ellen, like, I like it here. Let's just stay. I really enjoy this, Lord, because it feels like you're closer to me than anything else.

Would you keep me in this place? And God knows what we need. God knows what we need. And what happens? They settle from Ellen.

Verse sixteen one. Ellen was really good. I love that. That weekend was awesome. It was like the glory of God was in every meeting.

That two weeks where I was in my private devotion was like I was being taken up like Ezekiel between heaven and earth. I was like in two different realms. Why did you make it stop? Why you silent all for a sudden? You were speaking so loudly before.

Before. And we just trust in him. We trust in him. Because there are other things that need to happen that require you to come out of Elohim. There are things in your character that can't happen in Elohim.

They need to happen when you're being tested in your faith, when tragedy comes, when the animal pets come and attack you. And then there are moments where I bring you back and I strike a rock and hear some water. He just knows. He just knows, and we have to trust him. And every season, every experience, a lack of experience, it doesn't matter what it is.

He sees us. He's with us. He's the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night. And we have to cling to him and believe in him and trust in his leadership. Let's pray.

Maybe right now you're in Mara, and it's so amazing how you can quickly go from the Red Sea experience and just a few days end up in Mara. Like, three days ago, I saw the greatest miracle. Now I feel like I can't even I don't remember what water tasted like. Or maybe you're an element. Regardless, he does deserve one thing, and that's our praise and our words of adoration and our love and our service to him.

Father, tonight, we thank you for your precious word. We thank you for this song. We thank you what you teach us in singing. We thank you that it touches our inner man in a certain way. We thank you that it takes the truths of God and makes it memorable.

We thank you that you sing over Help us. Father, help us in any moment of our lives. Whatever is facing us to believe like the Red Sea you can take us through it or like Mara you can completely change it. You are able to do anything.