Healer - Exodus 15:26

the water became sweet.

And so as we see here by way of yet another stunning miracle, God provides healing for Israel by changing water that is murky, bitter, and harmful to that which is clear, nourishing, and sweet. Which brings us to our first point for tonight, and that is God is our physical healer. God is our physical healer. Here at the Oasis of Morav is where God demonstrates and tells Israel that he is their healer. If you look at the end of verse 26, God calls himself their healer. He says, I am the Lord, your healer, the covenant name of God. I am Jehovah, the Lord who heals. He is Israel's personal, intimate, covenant-keeping God and healer. And he is by nature a healer. It's not as if he just merely performs healing But being a healer is inherent to his very being, fully and eternally. He truly is healer. And as God's people suffered the harsh desert condition, and in the midst of the grumbling and displeasure, Jehovah showed compassion upon his people and gave them water to heal them. And here at Merah, God is also teaching Israel to be obedient to him. And if they will succeed to listen here and obey the Lord God and all of his commandments, they will receive blessing and experience healing. If you just look at the second half of verse 25 and verse 26 together,

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.

" And so by way of testing Israel, which they've already failed, but by way of testing them and declaring his expectations for their holy conduct, to command them to listen here and obey him, he's preparing them to receive his law at Mount Sinai. And really, this begs the question, did Israel succeed to listen here and obey the Lord God? The answer is no, they did not. In fact, they did the opposite of that. Instead of trusting God here in the wilderness, they have already expressed their distrust in God, grumbling at Him in dissatisfaction and disobedience. As we were reminded last week, Israel grumbled in chapter 14. They do it again here in chapter 15, and then they'll do it again in chapter 16, verses one and two. Only then it's gonna be about food. So when they arrive to Marah, they grumble and say, what will we drink? When they depart from Elam and arrive to the wilderness of sin, they say, what will we eat? Grumbling and displeasure and dissatisfaction with God. Their song of God's victory has all but vanished, right? The echo of their praise to Jehovah has been carried off by the wind. And all that is left is grumbling. But I suppose if I'm being honest, I feel like grumbling if Chick-fil-A forgets my waffle fries at the drive-thru or messes up my drink. The point is that throughout the Exodus and beyond, Israel failed to obey, to listen, hear, and obey God. But in his mercy, the plagues in Egypt did not fall upon the Israelites. In his mercy, they did not fall upon the Israelites. Despite their prolonged disobedience and grumbling, Throughout the Exodus, as hunger and thirst were their constant companions, God was their constant provider, sustainer, and healer. Here at Merah, God provided his people with water to drink, restoring their health. And by the way, when Israel departed from Merah and they arrived at Elam, which is only a matter of three to five miles, they found 12 water springs and 70 palm trees rich with figs. What a humbling experience that must have been for God's people, as you can imagine. But if we can take a moment for personal reflection, I would like to ask you, I wonder how often we as the church grumble against our healer, right? How often are we indignant despite God's sheer abundance of grace, common grace and mercy and provision for us? Beloved, I wonder if you are grumbling bitterly at your oasis in your current circumstance or season. Consider whatever circumstance you're going through or whatever struggle or suffering you're going through. Has your song of praise turned to bitterness and grumbling in the midst of your trial? Application point number one then is trust the Lord, your healer. Trust the Lord, your healer. You see, Israel knew God had rescued them from Egypt. They had just experienced an amazing, stunning miracle when he imparted the entire sea to rescue them. They knew Jehovah to be their deliverer in their dire need. And what an easy, yet no less significant miracle it was to create drinkable water from something that was not drinkable. And yet they say, what shall we drink? Expressing their distrust and displeasure in the Almighty. Consequently, their distrust led to being discontent. So application point number two, be content in your circumstance. Trust the Lord your healer and be content in your circumstance. If you do not trust God, you will not be content in difficult trials, circumstances, and times of wanting and need. So let us trust the Lord our healer and that we would be content in him lest we forget the words from the Apostle Paul, who says in Philippians chapter four, verses 11 to 13, and please make note of this. He says,

for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

So let us remember that as New Testament believers. God is our healer. He provides us food, water, our immune systems, modern medicine, healthcare, so much common grace in our current day. And through his generosity, he continues to have compassion for suffering, providing for the physical needs of his people. As my own personal testimony, I suppose I've had my own share of suffering. when in 2022, as you may recall, I had an aggressive bacterial infection of the lungs and I briefly became septic. So bad that I was hospitalized at Martha Jefferson Hospital for about 17 days. I was extremely weak, I was tired, I was very disoriented, and I had two IVs through which I received multiple antibiotics. Physically, I was at the lowest and the weakest point in my life thus far. but God provided my every need. He provided me food and drink to sustain me when I was able to eat, and many of you visited with me and participated in that, and I'm so thankful to God. He provided me with doctors and nurses and the right medicines to fight off the infection and to restore my health. He provided every need. He really is our Lord and healer. And he continues to heal people right here at Jefferson Park, prayerless after prayerless, week after week, month after month, year after year. God's loving providence and common grace continues to meet the needs of his people and through various ministries and hospitalities here. He really is our God who heals. So let us not grumble, especially in our time of need, but let us trust in the Lord, our healer, and be content in him. Well, not only is God our physical healer, but our second point is God is our spiritual healer. God is our spiritual healer. Psalm 103 verses two and three and verses 11 to 12 say this.

Blessed be the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Our God and healer restores both body and spirit. And as you know, in the Old Testament, God made a new and everlasting covenant with his people, which is expressed in Ezekiel 36, Jeremiah 31, and other places, but you can mark those down and read them later. But in this covenant, God promises to forgive sin and restore fellowship with anyone who turns to him in contrition with true repentance and faith in him as their healer. And then, as we see in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ, Yahweh, Jehovah himself in the flesh comes. He fulfills all the requirements of the law. He mediates that covenant in his life, death, and resurrection. And he extends the gracious invitation of salvation to sinners like you and me. He is our God who heals us spiritually. And though we may need water to nourish and sustain us physically day after day, the water to cleanse us spiritually is a one-time event. It is a one-time event. The soul is satisfied forever. If you would turn to John chapter four with me. Just as an illustration in the New Testament, Jesus addresses the physical need of the woman at the well in Samaria, as you may recall. She arrives to the well at midday after the morning crowds have dispersed, and she does that in her humility and in her shame. And she waits for the crowds to leave so that she can draw water for herself and for her family. And our Lord uses this event as a lesson for her spiritual need. And so he says, beginning in verse 13, John chapter four, verse 13, Jesus says to her,

everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.

So, in light of the works of Christ and the water of everlasting life that he gives to us, in light of God being our spiritual healer, let's consider our application point number three, and that is, praise God in every circumstance. Praise God in every circumstance. You see, Israel grumbled when their water dried up. They grumbled when their water dried up and when they faced difficulty. Their praise became grumbling, circumstantially and conditionally. So I exhort you to do not let discontentment rob you of your praise for the Lord, your healer. Because there will always be an ebb and flow of your circumstances in life. There will be times when you're hungry, when you have little, or when you're without. That comes and goes. but God is always worthy to be praised. He is always worthy to be praised. And in Christ, you are forever satisfied. You will never thirst again. So be content, trust your God, be content, and praise him in every circumstance. Jehovah Rapha, the Lord, our healer, provides our physical needs and he provides our deepest spiritual need. which is salvation and the forgiveness of our sins. Right here at Jefferson Park, week after week, month after month, year after year, testimony after testimony, prayer list after prayer list, we never cease to hear of the goodness of God who provides the spiritual needs of sinners just like you and me. And so just as Israel at Marah needed to know that all healing comes from God, just as the woman at the well needed to know that God provides physical and spiritual life, so do all sinners in our current day. So let us not grumble in dissatisfaction with God, but trust in him, be content, and always give him praise. Always give him praise. He desired Israel and he desires all people to look to him for spiritual healing. And as we conclude our time tonight, and if you're with us and you're not a believer, our God and healer extends his gracious invitation to you to come to him, to drink, and to partake of the water of everlasting life, and never be thirsty again. So my application point for you is to simply believe. Believe in Christ as Savior. Believe in him. Come to him and drink, trust in him as Lord and Savior, and receive the healing of everlasting life. You pray with me. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word and for who you are. Truly you are our God and healer. We thank you that you have worked and that you continue to work in the lives of your people here at Jefferson Park to heal and restore our health in our time of need. And we thank you, Father, that you have restored us in heart and in spirit to change us, to save us and to reconcile us to yourself. The water that you have given to us truly has become a spring of water welling up in us to eternal life. And we ask that you would please help us to trust you more, to draw near to you with contentment in our daily living, whether in abundance or need. Would you help us to trust in you for all provision and never cease giving you praise? We pray that the song of our praise to you would not be carried away with the wind of changing circumstances, but always be on our lips. And we pray here and now that if any sinner should thirst for everlasting life and the forgiveness of sin, that they would receive salvation in you and you alone. We thank you that you truly are our God who heals us physically and spiritually, giving us eternal life in and through your beloved son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is in his precious name that we offer up our prayer to you and for your glory. Amen.