Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20050710.htm

FEASTING ON THE NAMES OF "JEHOVAH"
Part II: Applying The Name Of "Jehovah-Rapha," God Our Healer
(Exodus 15:26 with 15:22-27)
  1. Introduction
    1. Though God has often saved us out of deep trials, when new ones arise, we can be tempted to worry, fret and complain as though God either can not nor will not continue to help us in the "this" time trial!
    2. God's provision in the "this" time trial we face is given in Exodus 15:22-27 for our insight (as follows):
  2. Applying The Name Of "Jehovah-Rapha," God Our Healer, Exodus 15:26 with 15:22-27.
    1. [Note: God promised to keep Israel free from disease were she to heed His Word and to afflict her with disease for disobeying it (Deut. 7:12, 15; 28:15, 27, 60). Yet, the Church is no longer under that Mosaic Covenant, so believers today may be ill due to God's discipline (as in 1 Cor. 11:29-30) and sometimes they may be ill even though they are not in sin (as in Phil. 2:25-30). Thus, the application of this Exodus 15:22-27 passage is made in reference to God's GENERAL blessings for obedience (rather a divine promise of physical healing in the Church era), a truth that applies to all the dispensations, cf. Eph. 6:1-3.]
    2. Before the Exodus 15:23-26 events, God had shown He had great will and ability to provide for Israel:
      1. By way of ten consecutive miraculous plagues upon the Egyptians, God had convinced their hardened leader in Pharaoh to deliver the people of Israel from Egyptian bondage, cf. Exodus 7:1-12:33.
      2. Finally, God had used the Red Sea to rescue Israel from Pharaoh's pursuing chariots, and then closed it in upon the enemy to destroy them, Exodus 14:1-31. So great was the event, Moses authored a song and Miriam led the women in a dance in praise to God for His deliverance, Exodus 15:1-21.
    3. Yet, just three days after leaving this Red Sea stage of great divine deliverance and its worship response from Israel, the people had journeyed into the wilderness and come upon a pool of water at Marah that was unfit for consumption, and so in faithless anxiety had complained about it, Exodus 15:22-24!
    4. They expressed their worry to Moses who in turn cried out to the Lord, Exodus 15:24-25a.
    5. In response, God signaled He was in FULL COMMAND of the PRESENT crisis, and solved it in a GRACIOUS, encouraging way (as follows):
      1. God showed Moses a tree that had been growing YEARS BEFORE this crisis of the bitter water for the worried, thirsty people of Israel had even ARISEN, Ex. 15:25b! (Guthrie & Motyer, gen. eds., The New Bible Com.: Rev., 3rd rev. ed., p. 129) Indeed, that tree had grown in readiness of this event YEARS BEFORE God had even BEGUN to PERFORM His miracles to deliver Israel from Egypt!
      2. God had him cut down that tree and cast it into the pool, "healing" it [as the idiom of that day would put it, cf. Ezek. 47:9; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Ezek. 47:1-12] and making it potable, Ex. 15:25c.
      3. This event became an instruction tool for Israel: if she would heed God and His commands, all the plagues and their diseases that God had used to afflict the Egyptians would not come upon her, for God wanted Israel to see He was the One Who "healed" her, the "Jehovah-Rapha" Who effectively would meet all of her future needs in the wilderness like He had met "this" trial regarding the bitter water!
      4. After getting their fill of water by this miraculous provision, God led the people (Num. 9:15-23) just seven miles further to the oasis of Elim where there were 12 wells of naturally potable water and 70 palm trees, Ex. 15:27. There they could rest and let the lessons of the great miracles of the deliverance from Egypt coupled with the latest one regarding the provision for drinking water sink into their hearts!
Lesson: THOUGH God had TEN TIMES shown He was able and willing to deliver Israel from Egypt by the TEN PLAGUES, though He had CLIMAXED these miracles with His HUGE deliverance at the Red Sea, WHEN Israel SOON AFTER came to DOUBT God's commitment to help her, He STILL met her need by CAREFUL FORETHOUGHT via preparation YEARS in ADVANCE of a special tree for the miraculous purification of the bitter water! God wanted Israel to let this LATEST provision coupled with all the rest show He was MORE than willing and able to KEEP helping her "this" time!

Application: From the lesson of Exodus 15:26, may we trust God has ALWAYS gone WAY BEFORE us to plan to HELP us with our PRESENT trials, and know this is verified by the PRECEDENTS of His track record of PAST helps for us. May we relax in Jehovah-Rapha for the current trials we face!