Êxodo 14

Êxodo 14

Calvin comments: ‘If God did not spare them, he will not spare us, for our situation is the same as theirs.’ Herbert Lockyer - Alas! however, three days later their music turned into murmuring, and disappointment overtook delight. After such a display of divine power on their behalf, the people found no water in the wilderness and failed to remember that the God who had controlled volumes of water for their deliverance was able to supply streams in the desert. Their fear of and faith in God quickly evaporated, as did their reverence for Moses, for when the people came to Marah, the water there was bitter, and they murmured against Moses, as if he were responsible for the undrinkable water (Exod. 15:22-24). Both the absence of water, and then the bitter water were in the very path of divine guidance, and represent the trials of the people of God, which are educatory and not punitive. Wilderness experiences are designed to test the reality of our acquaintance with God, and the depth of our faith and confidence in His Word. Setting out after their watery baptism, Israel bounded forward with glad heart, but their joy as a saved people soon received a check from the dry and dusty desert. Often this is so with those who commence their Christian pilgrimage with an exuberance of joy, but who, at the first keen blast of the world, break down, and in their hearts feel like turning back to Egypt. (All the Messianic Prophecies of the Bible) Steven