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THE LORD WHO HEALS YOU: MARAH AND Exodus 15:22-27

The Hebrews' exodus from Egypt is the story of God fulfill• ing the promises of his covenant with Abraham (see Genesis 15). But that story had a bigger purpose than merely to release Abraham's enslaved descendants from the oppression of their Egyptian masters. Rather, God intended Abraham's offspring to become his witnesses, his model people. God desired them to live in such an exemplary manner that all other peoples would come to know his name and find salvation in him, and in the Messiah who was yet to come.

In spite of God's spectacular acts of power demonstrated through the plagues, the Hebrews' redemption from Egypt was only the first step in a long journey of training. To become God's witnesses, the Hebrews (Israel) needed to learn to trust him in all circumstances and to live by faith in his word. They needed (iod's laws to guide them and a sacrificial system through which I hey could receive forgiveness for their wrongdoing and their failures. They needed to learn to worship God by living accord• ing to his commands so that every aspect of their lives reflected his righteousness and demonstrated his deep, compassionate love for the poor, the suffering, and the broken. In short, the I Icbrcws needed a complete and thorough reeducation to purge I 111- ways of Egypt from their hearts and lives and to replace 14 FAITH LESSONS ON FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN Session One: The Lord Who Heals You: Marah and Elim 17

them with tlie righteous, compassionate character of those who tice being who he has called us to be. We join the ancient people of walk with God, God in the desert because in their sandal prints we discover a map for our walk with God. Their failures are our lessons; their victories So God led them from the comfort and abundance of the fertile Nile are our inspiration. Through their struggles, we stand on a firm Valley into the harsh, barren environment of the desert. There his foundation to fulfill our mission as God's witnesses to a broken, sin• people were challenged to affirm their newly rekindled faith and to ful world. practice living it out. Whenever they failed (and they often did), God forgave them and put before them another "test" — another opportu• nity to choose to walk with him. Although many people today view the ' desert experiences Opening Thoughts (3 minutes) through the lens of their failures, there is so much more to their forty-year wilderness story! Despite their obvious failures, God loved The Very Words of God and provided for them. They experienced God's presence and pro• Remember how the LOUD your God led you all the way in the desert tection through daily miracles — and quail, waterfront the these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what rock, pillars of fire and cloud. In fact, the prophet Jeremiah declared was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. in tender language thSt God fondly remembered the wilderness years as his courtship with his beloved bride Geremiah 2:1 - 2). By Deuteronomy 8:2 God's grace, the Israelite children reared in the desert were better prepared than their parents to live in a manner that revealed their Think About it God to the world. They were better prepared to walk with God and step into their place in his plan to reclaim the world from the chaos The difficulties of testing are nothing new to us. Teachers test their of sin. students to discover how thoroughly they understand their lessons; commanders test their troops to assess their strength, agility, and Almost every foundational element of faith known in the Bible is preparedness for battle; parents test their children's obedience and rooted in Israel's awe-filled experiences in the desert wilderness. decision making to evaluate their maturity. These experiences were so central to the identity of God's people What are some of the specific ways by which we "test" a person's during Jesus' day, that Jesus —God's "second" firstborn son (Israel, preparedness to fulfill his or her future responsibilities, and how according to Exodus 4:22, was God's "first" firstborn son) —also might the person who is being tested perceive those experiences? went to the desert ,., for forty days! The thrilling stories of those experiences also remind us that the legacy of the ancient Israel• ites now rests on our shoulders, God desires that all who follow him —Jew or Gentile — not only tell but show the nations his nature DVD Notes (32 minutes) by the way we live. Into the desert—why? Thus the ancient Israelites contributed to preparing us for our walk To humble with God! And, just as he did with them, God still leads us into the "desert" where he shapes us — the body of Christ — into the people he wants us to be. We should not be surprised when life is difficult and harsh, filled with struggles and testing, God provides us with o|-)porlunities to tru,st him fully, obey him wholehcartcclly, :MKI pnu- Session One: The Lord Who Heals You: Marah and Elim IS 1 AI I 11 II DM', (IN I IIU I'll I III l.i' inll I AIM 19

To test In what ways might a person's lifestyle choices and emo• tional and spiritual responses to life differ in each of these environments?

One bitter well—the first big test

What insight does this give you into why God wanted the Hebrews to leave the Nile Delta and spend some time living in the desert?

A lesson about "sticks"

The rest of the story—twelve wells, seventy palms

DVD Discussion (6 minutes)

1. What kinds of experiences do you think were a part of daily THE CONTRASTS BETWEEN THE LUSH Ufe in the fertile Nile Delta, and what kinds of experiences NILE DELTA AND THE do you think were a part of daily life in the extremes of the BARREN SINAI DESERT vast, barren Sinai desert? ARE EXTREME. PERHAPS IT SHOULDN'T SURPRISE US THAT THE ISRAELITES EXPRESSED FEAR ABOUT WHAT THEY WOULD EAT AND DRINK —AND EVEN THOUGHTTHEY WOULD DIE IN THE DESERT. FAITH LESSONS ON FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN Session One: The Lord Who Heals You: Marah and Elim 21

2. Most of us have never seen a desert, much less felt the relent• few scattered shrubs in the wadis — how much do you think less, baking heat of its vast, barren expanse, so it is hard to they longed for fresh water? imagine what it would be like to travel on foot through the Sinai Desert. When we live much of our lives in climate- controlled buildings where a drink of pure water — either hot or cold — is |ust a few steps away, it's difficult to imagine 3. For a moment, try to put yourself in the sandals of one of the what it would be like to be hot, thirsty, and days away from a Israelites at Marah. They were two to three days from their water source. last source of water, in a place they had never been before, Look at the map, "The Land of ," and consider and God had led them to water that they couldn't even where the Israelites might have been after two to three days' drink! What did God's "test" at Marah's bitter well reveal walk from the crossing of the sea. We know that they did not about what was foremost in their hearts? What might God's take the Way to the Land of the Philistines (along the Medi• "test" have revealed about what is foremost in your heart? terranean), so trace the other possible routes across the Sinai or along the Red Sea toward the tip of the peninsula. Consid• ering that all ^f the land they had walked through had been desert wilderness —hills, rock, gravel, sand, mountains, a

4. In light of the fact that God previously had used Moses' staff as an instrument of his mighty power, what is significant about God choosing to use a different piece of wood to make the water sweet? What impact might this experience have had on Moses and why?

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A-' FOR GREATER UNDERSTANDING The Geography of the Exodus One of the most debated geographic Issues of the Hebrew Bible is the loca• tion of Mount Sinai and the route from Goshen the Hebrews took to get • Enemy lorires.' • Route of IstactiKS ftoi there. The Torah clearly and precisely describes the exodus from Egypt, and h.gypi to ShuTjm Andtnt rojdways Ihis study accepts the story provided in the Torah as completely accurate. Ancicnicanab Although the Torah names several cities and places on that journey, it does not provide sufficient data to correlate with current archaeological informa- lion and establish definitive locations. Thus many historical and geographical THE LAND OF THE EXODUS contlniiad tin imxt /j/H/f.' 32 FAITH LESSONS ON FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN Session One: The Lord Who Heals You: Marah and Elim 23

questions concerning the exact route of the exodus remain unanswered and trade route and military road that passed through Canaan (later, Israel) and open to debate. connected Egypt to the region of Babylon and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. God did not lead the Hebrews that way because they were not ready to face Fortunately, this study does not depend on our knowing all of the specific the strong military presence of the Philistines who inhabited the region at locations and routes. Our emphasis is best expressed by the Middle Eastern that time {Exodus 13:17). saying, "It is not where an event occurred that is important but where it Is remembered." Whereas knowing a specific setting for a biblical story often Significant Jewish and Christian scholars have presented evidence for three enhances and enriches our understanding, the text itself provides the les• major theories regarding the location of Mount Sinai and the exodus route: son. So our purpose is to explore the events and God's revelation through northwest Saudi Arabia or southern Jordan; northern ; and the them, not to make a case for a particular geographical theory. Therefore, the traditional location in the mountains of southern Sinai. At least twenty Mount locations filmed for this study generally represent the places where the story Sinai locations have been argued by scholars, and well-meaning amateurs occurred and are similar to the Torah's descriptions but no attempt has been have presented theories that contribute little to understanding the text. made to "prove" that these are the actual places. Video for this study was filmed In the vicinity of the traditional route along That being said, nearly all scholars agree that the Hebrews did not take "The the Gulf of Suez to Wadi Feiran and the Granite Highlands and portrays Jebel Way to the Land of the Philistines. "That route, along the Mediterranean coast Katarina and Jebel Musa as Mount Sinai. These locations represent typi• on the northwestern edge of the Sinai Peninsula, was part of the ancient cal desert features—wells, roads, mountains—that research reveals are similar to those mentioned in the Torah. Bible students who are interested in evaluating evidence for a particular location or route should refer to sources that have this as their intent.'

Small Group Bible Discovery and Discussion (13 minutes)

The Lord Led You

(.ocl promised Moses that he would bring the Hebrews out of Egypt .uul into a land "flowing with milk and honey," the same land he had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 3:8; 6:8). By the most direct route, this land was less than two hundred miles from COMPAREDTOTHE HEBREWS, THE PHILISTINES WERE REMARKABLY SOPHISTICATED. COMPARED TO THE EGYPTIANS, \iny\n —a journey that would have taken less than three weeks. But HOWEVER, THEY WERE RELATIVELY WEAK. SO WHY WOULD GOD (iod knew his people were discouraged and their faith was weak, LEAD HIS PEOPLE INTO THE DESERT RATHER THAN BY THE WAY so he had another route in mind. Via this route, it took forty days OF THE PHILISTINES IN ORDER TO AVOID A BATTLE? GOD HAD JUST DESTROYED THE POWER OF EGYPT, AND HE COULD HAVE liisi to reach Moimt Sinai! By choosing a longer, more difficult route, DESTROYED THE PHILISTINES AS WELL, BUT HE APPARENTLY (.i)(l ()r()vidcd opportunities for the Hebrews to learn how to be obe- EXPECTED GREATER PARTICIPATION FROM HIS PEOPLE IN THIS iliini, atiivc participants with him in his bigger plan to reclaim his NEXT BATTLE, AND THEY WERE NOT YET READY. WnlM. FAITH LESSONS ON FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN Session One: The Lord Who Heals You: Ma 'rah and Elim

To the Hebrews, who for generations had hved in the ing, driving, or forcing." So th^^a^^me text at least hints that the abundant and well-watered Nile Delta, the desert was an Israelites may have in some w ay hesitated or resisted step• unknown, frightening place of chaos and danger What ping forward into the desert. compelled them to go into this strange, hostile place, 2. What was the desert like, anc^^^^BE how did the Israelites feel and how did they know which way to go? (See Exodus about being there? (See Nnml )ers 20:1 -5; Deuteronomy 13:21-22; 15:22.) 1:19; 8:15; Jeremiah 2:6.)

NOTE: The Hebrew word that is translated "led" in the NIV How is their response like or ^^^^^^Bjnlike your response when it seems that God has placed yo^^^^^»i in difficult, challenging cir• (Exodus 15:22) is nasa, which carries the meaning of "caus- cumstances?

3 God clearly expressed his inte^ :nt and purpo.se for leading hi people into the desert. (See Es™

a. What did God want to acc ^ omplish in the hearts and live of his people, and how »uld the desert experience coi tribute to this training?

b. What images did God use v^^^Hio describe his relation.ship with his people and, there—= ^ore, his motivation for leadin them into the desert?

c. What do these images say ^^^^H:o you about how highly God values his relationship witt 3 his people?

THE VAST SINAI DESERT BEGINS WHERE THE WAVES OF THE RED SEA LAP THE SHORE. HOW MIGHT YOU HAVE RESPONDED TO THF NFWS THAT THIS WAS THE WAY TO THE PROMISI.D LAND? 26 FAITH LESSONS ON FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN Session One: The Lord Who Heals You: Marah and Elim 27

Faith Lesson (5 minutes) What did you discover about what was really in your heart? Fear? L

1. Consider the experience of the apostle Paul, who was tor• mented by what he called a "thorn in my flesh" that he

begged God to take away from him (2 Corinthians 12:7 -10). 3. If you are on a difficult path or in the midst of an intense a. What did the testing from this desert reveal about the time in the desert right now, what strength and encourage• apostle Paul's heart — to him as well as to God — and ment do you gain from the experiences of the Israelites and what did it allow him to experience? others who have gone into the desert before you?

b. To what extent would you want to experience this level Closing (1 minute) of intimacy, trust, and commitment in your relationship Read Deuteronomy 8:2-5 aloud together: "Remember how the with God? LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, lo humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which 2. What has been your personal experience with God on a neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man roundabout "journey" or in a vast and dreadful "desert"? does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did iiol swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you." How much did you complain and long for the good things IIKII pray about the "tests" that you and other people are facing. you had back in "Egypt"? Ask (ioti to give you the strength to obey him fully and the faith lo live on every word lhal comes from him. Thank him for his 28 FAITH LESSONS ON FIBE ON THE MOUNTAIN

unfailing love for you, a love that includes training you to follow him with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Memoiize

Remember how the LoRoyour God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and. to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands, fie humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lono. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart thai as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Deuteronomy 8:2 - 5 •