Moses Before the Bitter Waters

Introduction

You live in a desert world. That is the observation Daniel Décary makes at the start of his message given at La Chapelle, in the Conquerors series drawn from Hebrews 11. Physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering is everywhere, and it produces an immense thirst in each of us. The problem is that the solutions offered around you often look like salt water: the more you drink, the thirstier you get. Drawing on Exodus 15, the preacher tells the story of the people of Israel arriving at Marah, that bitter water source that nearly broke their faith. He offers you one lasting answer for your own thirst: a piece of wood thrown into the water, the cross of Jesus.

Message outline

1. The world is a desert and human beings are thirsty

• The people around us thirst for justice, belonging, love, and meaning in life.
• God created humanity with eternity in their heart: that thirst is legitimate.
• Many drink from bitter or polluted waters for lack of knowing where else to drink.
• The example of the child in Africa who drinks infested water: "he knows, but he is thirsty."

2. The false sources: people and bitterness

• The people grumble against Moses: the classic mistake of looking to the leader to be satisfied.
• A leader remains a human being, imperfect and fallible; he cannot be your source.
• Expecting a human being to satisfy your thirst to be loved leads to emotional dependency.
• Bitterness is drinking poison hoping the other person gets sick, it satisfies nothing.

3. The piece of wood: crying out to God and receiving the cross

• Moses does not defend himself; he cries out to the LORD, like David in Psalm 63.
• God shows him a specific piece of wood that sweetens the water (Exodus 15:25).
• Galatians 3: Christ became a curse for us by hanging on a tree.
• The cross offers you forgiveness, healing, unconditional love, and the promise of eternal life.

4. The instructions: obeying the teachings of Jesus

• After the piece of wood, God gives rules and puts his people to the test.
• Jesus taught for three years before the cross: his words are not optional.
• His commandments are not there to dominate you but because he loves you.
• Too many believers treat the cross like an eternal life insurance policy and miss out on the abundant life.

5. Elim: the promise of an abundant life

• After Marah, Israel arrives at Elim: twelve springs and seventy palm trees (Exodus 15:27).
• The cross plus obedience opens the door to a satisfied life.
• Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John 4): the water he gives becomes a spring welling up within you.
• This living water overflows from you and reaches thirsty people around you.

Key takeaways

• Your thirst is real and legitimate: God has set eternity in your heart.
• People, even the best leaders, cannot be your source.
• Bitterness only hurts you: it does not touch the person who hurt you.
• The only piece of wood that sweetens bitter waters is the cross of Jesus.
• Abundant life comes through the cross and through obedience to Christ's teachings.

Personal application

1. What source are you drinking from this week: the cross, a person, a dependency, a bitterness?
2. Is there a leader (in your church, your family, your work) that you have burdened with expectations they cannot carry?
3. What past wound are you still carrying, that you need to hand over into God's hands?
4. What specific teaching of Jesus are you sidestepping right now, even though it is given for your good?
5. Who around you is visibly thirsty, and who could you talk to about the living water source this week?

Verses cited

• Hebrews 11:27 · LSG
• Exodus 15:22-27 · LSG
• Psalm 63 · LSG
• Galatians 3:13-14 · LSG
• Psalm 1 · LSG
• John 4:13-14 · LSG
• 1 John 1:9 · LSG

Frequently asked questions

What do the bitter waters of Marah in Exodus 15 represent?

After three days of walking in the desert, the people of Israel arrive at Marah and find a spring they cannot drink from. Daniel Décary uses it as an image of our disappointments: the world's solutions promise to quench our thirst for love, justice, or belonging, but they leave a bitter, sometimes toxic, taste.

Why does Moses' piece of wood point forward to the cross of Jesus?

God shows Moses a piece of wood that sweetens the water. Galatians 3 recalls that Christ became a curse for us by hanging on a tree. The preacher connects the two: the cross is the piece of wood that God throws into our bitter waters to make them drinkable, forgiveness, healing, unconditional love, and eternal life.

How do you get out of bitterness according to this message?

By going to the cross to measure the forgiveness you have received, then forgiving those who hurt you. Daniel Décary makes clear that forgiving does not mean denying what happened, but handing the person over into God's hands so that bitterness stops eating away at you.