THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #31 | THE LIFE OF MOSES #13
Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3713
THE LIVES OF THE PATRIARCHS #31
THE LIFE OF MOSES #13
GOD'S MOST HOLY NAME: YHVH #6
3 REVELATIONS OF YHVH'S NAME GIVEN TO MOSES #1
1. YHVH RAPHA ( Part 1 )
God first revealed Himself as YHVH-Rapha to the Israelites after their Exodus out of Egypt.
After three days of wandering in the Desert of Shur, the Israelites were in desperate need of water.
They discovered a pool of water, however, the waters were unfit to drink. As a reflection of the quality of the water and their emotional disposition, the Israelites named the river Mara (bitter).
God divinely cleansed the waters by instructing Moses to throw a piece of wood into the water, thereby making it drinkable.
Following this miracle, God declared Himself as YHVH Rapha to His people by proclaiming, “If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26).
Two revelations are immediately apparent:
1. Our Covenantal God is a reverser of curses.
The Nile was turned to blood for the Egyptians in the plagues of Egypt. But for His people, He created the first miracle in the wilderness - He turned bitter desert waters into sweet drinkable waters - a miracle if you realise there was enough water to feed two million or so Israelites, their families, and animals.
2. Our Covenantal God heals totally and holistically in body, soul, and spirit.
We saw how God quelled their emotions and disappointments when the waters of Mara were bitter.
I visited the traditional site of Mara which if it were its true location is near the sea and hence the water is brackish and saline - like saltwater that animals refuse to drink from.
Some commentators say the miracle foreshadowed Christ - as Moses threw a piece of wood ( symbolic of the Cross ) which somehow made the waters drinkable.
To me, I see the foreshadowing in Jesus' healing ministry.
The Samaritan woman at the well thought she was cursed, not only by her race but also by her five failed marriages ( John 4:10-11,13-14 ).
She came to the well to quench her physical thirst, not realising Jesus was waiting for her with the promise of turning the bitterness of her life into sweet joy.
It was not a piece of wood thrown down into the well that would turn the physical water into spiritual living water.
It was a cross of wood on which Jesus would be lifted up. There he would divinely exchange the desperate thirst which we deserve to experience for His provision of living water, the water of eternal life.
Let us pray,
Dearest Lord, Your Cross is the remedy for the bitterness of my own bad choices, filling my life with Your gift of eternal life and living water.
Thank You for the divine exchange that happened at Your Cross of shame and suffering.
As You told the Samaritan Woman in John 4:10-14: " Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life."
