By Reverend David Whitney
July 27, 2014
NewsWithViews.com
It is good to be back with you. I had an encouraging trip in many ways, not just the time with family, and the rich fellowship in Christ, but also the taste of what is out there across America. Out in the deserts of Nevada, I spoke with a proprietor of a general store. It wasn’t long into our casual conversation that revulsion towards everything Washington D.C. does was revealed. So those polls that put Congress and Obama in the sub cellar were revealed as we had a taste of them anecdotally.
It gives me hope that vast sections of our land hate what is being done to America. It gives great encouragement to see that vast stretches of our land do not embrace the socialist destruction of our republic; and many who agree with Ronald Reagan when he said, “Government is not the answer to the problem, it is the problem.”
Let’s examine this issue on a more personal and mundane level. I know you can imagine the challenges of driving nearly 7000 miles. Some grumbling and complaining emerge. I noticed that I, as well as the other travelers, was most apt to grumble when we met the limits of physical needs; when we were hungry, tired, hot or so on. It is at those moments complaining was most likely to appear. And it was so with the Children of Israel.
Turn to Exodus 15:22. We are beginning a new sermon series entitled “The Wilderness Wanderings.” This series picks up the account where we left off a few months ago with the conclusion of our series “Let My People Go.”In this new series we are going to examine the lessons God taught His people in those Wilderness Wanderings which led up to their encampment at Mount Sinai and the giving of the Law. We shall see in each of these lessons, how what God taught the Children of Israel directly and how those lessons aptly apply to us.
We shall see that complaining and grumbling are directly connected to our expectations and to whom we complain. I think we will each find this very relevant. Our first response is to think of the complaints we have heard from others, particularly if we ourselves are the subjects of those complaints. On a deeper level, however, we need to examine our own pattern of complaining and grumbling. Let’s walk with the Children of Israel as they depart from the Red Sea, that great scene of triumph where Pharaoh and his tyrannical army were drowned in the depths of that great body of water.
The Bitter Waters– Please read Exodus 15:22-27. We learn that the Children of Israel they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water, and when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. “The people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.”
|
God had the solution to the problem they faced - a tree cast into the waters turning the bitter water sweet and drinkable. God could have used anything in His creation to solve this problem, but He chose a tree. Does this remind you of three prominent trees in the Bible? There was that one in the Garden that started all the trouble in this world. There is the tree of Life promised to us at the end of time described in Revelation 22:2.
Then there is that tree on Mount Calvary on which our Lord was crucified to take away our sins, to turn all the bitterness of this life to the sweetness of salvation.The tree at the waters of Marah prefigures the cross and that tree of life in the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have you allowed Him to lead you from the wilderness and remove the bitterness from your life? Have you accepted the sweetness of salvation that only He can give you?If you have placed your faith in Christ and become His disciple God promises to guide you in this life.
Learn more about your Constitution with Pastor David Whitney and the “Institute on the Constitution” and receive your free gift.
© 2014 Rev. David Whitney - All Rights Reserved
Click here to visit NewsWithViews.com home page.
Share This Article
Rev. David Whitney has been teaching the Christian heritage and history of our country with Institute on the Constitution for over a decade where he serves as Senior Instructor, and Radio show host on Dr. Stan Monteith’s Radio Liberty.
David is an Honors Scholar graduate from Rutgers University with a Masters Degree from Denver Seminary. A minister for 32 years he is currently the Pastor of Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church of Pasadena, Maryland.
As an member of Clergy, Activist and Radio personality David has appeared in Washington Times, on Voice of America, Fox, ABC, NBC, CSPAN, BBC, and more…
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InstituteontheConstitution
Twitter: @theAmericanView
E-Mail: dwhitney@iotconline.com
