WEBVTT 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:10.240 in Psalm 106. We haven't been there the last 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:17.359 couple of Wednesdays. But we're going to pick 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:19.219 up where we left off. We're getting close to 00:00:19.219 --> 00:00:20.960 finishing it. We've just been looking at each 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.859 of these little stories of Israel's unfaithfulness 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:29.859 in the Old Testament. And while Psalm 106 really 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:33.179 only gives us a little portion, of what the story 00:00:33.179 --> 00:00:35.359 is about, we've spent some time to go back and 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:37.399 look at these stories in the context a little 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:41.060 bit to understand what's going on. We've seen 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:44.079 a little bit of a theme that's kind of made its 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:47.659 way through this passage, and that is the idea 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:51.380 of atonement for the people, whether it be Moses 00:00:51.380 --> 00:00:54.240 interceding or Aaron making atonement or Phineas 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:58.740 making atonement. We've seen a theme. God's people 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:01.840 have sinned. And someone has to make atonement 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:03.560 for them. Now there certainly is some punishment 00:01:03.560 --> 00:01:05.359 for some of them we've seen in these stories. 00:01:05.500 --> 00:01:09.060 But we see this thread of atonement kind of woven 00:01:09.060 --> 00:01:13.920 through here. Tonight we'll be in Psalm 106 verse 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:22.579 32 and 33 is where we will start. Psalm 106 verses 00:01:22.579 --> 00:01:28.280 32 and 33. Two short verses and then we'll flip 00:01:28.280 --> 00:01:32.719 back. In the Old Testament, this story in detail 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:35.340 is found in Numbers chapter 20. If you want to 00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:38.680 go ahead and put a finger there, that's good 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:40.579 homework for you this week. If you want to go 00:01:40.579 --> 00:01:43.500 back and read the whole story, we'll hit the 00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:45.959 high points. We'll look at a couple of other 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:49.040 Old Testament passages too, but this particular 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:53.519 story is found in Numbers chapter 20. Let's pray 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:57.540 and we'll get started. God, we come to you. We 00:01:57.540 --> 00:01:59.980 thank you for these good words. And I pray that 00:01:59.980 --> 00:02:01.760 we can learn something from what we're reading 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.799 about your people Israel, what we're reading 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:07.620 about Moses, and more importantly, what it means 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:10.939 for us and how it points us to Jesus Christ. 00:02:11.060 --> 00:02:14.020 So I pray, dear Lord, that you just help us to 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:16.199 focus on you tonight. Let your Holy Spirit be 00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:18.879 among us and help me to preach and teach in a 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:21.680 way that brings glory and honor to you. In Jesus' 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:33.050 name I pray it. Amen. Verse 32. They angered 00:02:33.050 --> 00:02:36.110 the Lord at the waters of Meribah, and Moses 00:02:36.110 --> 00:02:39.770 suffered because of them. For they embittered 00:02:39.770 --> 00:02:45.009 his spirit. He spoke rashly with his lips. All 00:02:45.009 --> 00:02:48.349 right. Now, we've seen already as we've gone 00:02:48.349 --> 00:02:51.969 through Psalm 106, we've seen some occasions. 00:02:52.210 --> 00:02:55.389 This is another. bit of a theme, I think, that 00:02:55.389 --> 00:02:57.870 maybe we should pay attention to as we go through 00:02:57.870 --> 00:03:00.229 some of these stories. Now, in this particular 00:03:00.229 --> 00:03:05.569 story, it's talking about Moses striking a rock 00:03:05.569 --> 00:03:09.590 for water. Now, earlier on, we see that God told 00:03:09.590 --> 00:03:14.030 Moses to do this in Exodus chapter 17. One of 00:03:14.030 --> 00:03:16.550 the stories we looked at was in Exodus chapter 00:03:16.550 --> 00:03:20.419 15. In Exodus chapter 15, the people are praising 00:03:20.419 --> 00:03:23.039 God, everything's good, they just crossed the 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:25.879 Red Sea, and then no sooner than they get through 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:28.460 praising Him, you look down a couple of verses, 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:31.740 and it says that they begin to grumble because 00:03:31.740 --> 00:03:34.219 there was no water. They wanted water, there 00:03:34.219 --> 00:03:37.340 was no water. You flip over a couple of chapters 00:03:37.340 --> 00:03:41.259 to Exodus 17, you see the same thing. They're 00:03:41.259 --> 00:03:44.729 complaining because there is no water. If you 00:03:44.729 --> 00:03:46.770 want to go back and read those scriptures in 00:03:46.770 --> 00:03:49.069 a little more context this week, I would encourage 00:03:49.069 --> 00:03:50.830 you to do that. But we're going to look at them 00:03:50.830 --> 00:03:53.430 very quickly tonight. The first one we're going 00:03:53.430 --> 00:03:57.370 to look at is Exodus 15, verses 23 through 25. 00:03:58.849 --> 00:04:01.349 This is what I just referenced. We're just going 00:04:01.349 --> 00:04:03.909 to look at the text so you can see exactly what 00:04:03.909 --> 00:04:07.169 it says, what's going on. Exodus chapter 15, 00:04:07.409 --> 00:04:11.740 verses 23 and 25. This is right after... They 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:14.240 crossed over the Red Sea. God parted the sea 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:17.240 for them. It says, They came to Marah, but they 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:19.480 could not drink the water at Marah because it 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:23.259 was bitter. That is why it was named Marah. The 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:26.839 people grumbled to Moses, What are we going to 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:29.379 drink? So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord 00:04:29.379 --> 00:04:32.620 showed him a tree. When he threw it into the 00:04:32.620 --> 00:04:35.839 water, the water became drinkable. He made a 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:39.560 statue and ordinance for them at Marah, and he 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:43.199 tested them. There. Okay, so the people are already 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:45.319 kind of off to a bad start, I think, because 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:47.339 they just saw God part the Red Sea. They just 00:04:47.339 --> 00:04:50.519 had praised God. A couple of verses later, they're 00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:52.620 complaining, we don't have any water. Instead 00:04:52.620 --> 00:04:55.180 of saying, hey, God brought us this far. We saw 00:04:55.180 --> 00:04:57.399 all those plagues in Egypt. We just saw him part 00:04:57.399 --> 00:04:59.639 the Red Sea. God, we know you're going to take 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:01.579 care of us. Whatever comes our way, we'll be 00:05:01.579 --> 00:05:05.500 ready to go. But they complain, we ain't got 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:07.220 any water to drink. What are we going to do? 00:05:07.769 --> 00:05:10.470 And so God tells Moses to do something kind of 00:05:10.470 --> 00:05:13.170 weird. He tells him to take this tree, or some 00:05:13.170 --> 00:05:15.189 of your translations may say a piece of wood, 00:05:15.269 --> 00:05:17.149 throw it in the water, and it's going to make 00:05:17.149 --> 00:05:19.290 it drinkable. Now that was certainly miraculous. 00:05:19.589 --> 00:05:22.029 I don't know that there was any natural explanation 00:05:22.029 --> 00:05:24.889 that this tree just instantly touching the water 00:05:24.889 --> 00:05:27.310 made it drinkable. It was what God commanded 00:05:27.310 --> 00:05:30.930 Moses to do, and Moses did what God said, and 00:05:30.930 --> 00:05:34.139 God provided water for the people there. So that's 00:05:34.139 --> 00:05:36.300 the first instance we see of the people complaining 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.740 about water. And if you flip over to Exodus 17, 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:45.240 verses 1 and 2, you see something similar. It 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:47.759 says in verse 1, The entire Israelite community 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:51.480 left the wilderness of sin, moving from one place 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:53.500 to the next according to the Lord's command. 00:05:54.019 --> 00:05:57.220 They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water 00:05:57.220 --> 00:05:59.920 for the people to drink. So the people complained 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:03.829 to Moses, Give us water to drink. Why are you 00:06:03.829 --> 00:06:06.649 complaining to me? Moses replied to them. Why 00:06:06.649 --> 00:06:11.269 are you testing the Lord? Okay, same experience. 00:06:11.569 --> 00:06:13.449 Now you would think by this point they would 00:06:13.449 --> 00:06:17.790 have learned God provided for us last time. He's 00:06:17.790 --> 00:06:20.370 going to provide for us this time. But they're 00:06:20.370 --> 00:06:22.790 complaining again. What are we going to do? Well, 00:06:22.870 --> 00:06:25.629 it's in this story that God tells Moses to go 00:06:25.629 --> 00:06:27.550 and strike the rock and water is going to come 00:06:27.550 --> 00:06:30.029 from the rock. And that's exactly what Moses 00:06:30.029 --> 00:06:33.420 does. And water is provided. For the people. 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:36.420 And then we get to the event that's talked about 00:06:36.420 --> 00:06:39.040 in Psalm 106, the one that we're looking at tonight. 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:41.839 And that's the story that's found in Numbers 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:47.579 chapter 20. Very similar story. It says in verse 00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:52.399 1, Numbers chapter 20, verse 1. The entire Israelite 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:56.000 community entered the wilderness of Zin in the 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.540 first month, and they settled in Kadesh. Miriam 00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:03.240 died and was buried there. There was no water 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:05.779 for the community, so they assembled against 00:07:05.779 --> 00:07:09.300 Moses and Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses 00:07:09.300 --> 00:07:13.399 and said, If only we had perished when our brothers 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:16.699 perished before the Lord. Why have you brought 00:07:16.699 --> 00:07:19.319 the Lord's assembly into the wilderness for us 00:07:19.319 --> 00:07:22.959 and our livestock to die here? Why have you led 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:26.019 us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? 00:07:26.579 --> 00:07:30.560 It's not a place of grain, figs, vine, and pomegranates. 00:07:30.970 --> 00:07:34.649 And there is no water to drink. Now, this is 00:07:34.649 --> 00:07:36.470 kind of starting to sound like a broken record. 00:07:36.810 --> 00:07:39.750 You probably are noticing that it's kind of the 00:07:39.750 --> 00:07:42.310 same thing almost. In all of these stories that 00:07:42.310 --> 00:07:45.129 we've looked at, we're seeing the same language 00:07:45.129 --> 00:07:48.170 a lot repeat itself. Here the people complain, 00:07:48.430 --> 00:07:50.110 Oh, Moses, what are we going to do? Why did you 00:07:50.110 --> 00:07:51.290 bring us here? It would be better if we're dead. 00:07:51.529 --> 00:07:53.970 We've heard this before. This is kind of their 00:07:53.970 --> 00:07:56.910 go -to argument. Like, one thing goes wrong, 00:07:56.990 --> 00:07:59.170 things get a little tough. and they are just 00:07:59.170 --> 00:08:01.889 ready to throw in the towel, to give up on God, 00:08:02.050 --> 00:08:05.610 to rebel against Moses. I mean, we see this time 00:08:05.610 --> 00:08:07.629 and again. We've seen it as we've gone through 00:08:07.629 --> 00:08:11.569 Psalm 106. And here they go. What are we going 00:08:11.569 --> 00:08:13.870 to do? We ain't got none of these good foods 00:08:13.870 --> 00:08:15.850 that we want, and we ain't got no water to drink. 00:08:16.250 --> 00:08:19.689 Now, this story is similar to that that we just 00:08:19.689 --> 00:08:24.269 talked about in Exodus 17. Very similar. God, 00:08:24.449 --> 00:08:28.600 in this story, however, tells Moses to, go to 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:32.659 the rock, but to speak to the rock to bring about 00:08:32.659 --> 00:08:36.940 water. Moses, however, doesn't do that. Moses 00:08:36.940 --> 00:08:39.580 goes before the people and he says, look, are 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:43.019 we supposed to give you water? And then he takes 00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:46.299 his staff and he strikes the rock. And that's 00:08:46.299 --> 00:08:50.440 not what God told him to do. And as a result 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:55.009 of that, God tells Moses a few verses down. that 00:08:55.009 --> 00:08:57.809 he's not going to enter the promised land as 00:08:57.809 --> 00:09:00.570 a result of that. He said, look, you didn't do 00:09:00.570 --> 00:09:04.309 what I told you to do, and therefore you're not 00:09:04.309 --> 00:09:08.710 going to enter into the promised land. And so 00:09:08.710 --> 00:09:11.929 we see this kind of same story three different 00:09:11.929 --> 00:09:14.710 times. They're all different occasions, but all 00:09:14.710 --> 00:09:18.769 similar. And that is the people want water. Now, 00:09:18.769 --> 00:09:22.059 to want water... It's not a bad thing. Let's 00:09:22.059 --> 00:09:23.799 get that straight. It wasn't bad that the people 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:26.539 wanted clean water to drink. They knew that they 00:09:26.539 --> 00:09:29.340 had to have water to survive. And so they wanted 00:09:29.340 --> 00:09:33.740 water, but their attitude, I think, shows that 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:37.539 they didn't trust in God. They could have just 00:09:37.539 --> 00:09:40.279 said, okay, God's going to provide for us. He 00:09:40.279 --> 00:09:42.960 has time and again. Maybe the first time they 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:45.820 complain and they see God work, they could say, 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.629 okay, we're going to just trust Him. And maybe 00:09:48.629 --> 00:09:51.370 after two times, you'd say, well, now they're 00:09:51.370 --> 00:09:53.330 going to get it. Now they're going to just trust 00:09:53.330 --> 00:09:56.389 it. But even still here in Numbers chapter 20, 00:09:56.509 --> 00:09:58.470 they're still complaining about the same thing. 00:09:58.529 --> 00:10:01.169 And we don't have any water. What are we going 00:10:01.169 --> 00:10:04.409 to do? And that's the story that's being referenced 00:10:04.409 --> 00:10:09.350 in Psalm 106. And it's talking about Moses here, 00:10:09.450 --> 00:10:12.529 that Moses suffered the consequences, that he 00:10:12.529 --> 00:10:14.909 was so angry with the people, and maybe rightfully 00:10:14.909 --> 00:10:18.110 so, But he allowed his anger with the people 00:10:18.110 --> 00:10:22.669 to affect how he was going to be obedient to 00:10:22.669 --> 00:10:25.870 God or, should I say, disobedient to God. And 00:10:25.870 --> 00:10:29.669 there were consequences to that. Now, I think 00:10:29.669 --> 00:10:32.490 it's important for us to recognize that water 00:10:32.490 --> 00:10:35.830 is kind of a key theme in these stories. And 00:10:35.830 --> 00:10:39.590 it's also a key theme for Jesus. Now, here's 00:10:39.590 --> 00:10:41.649 what we see. When you go to the New Testament 00:10:41.649 --> 00:10:44.269 in John chapter 6, you can read that this week 00:10:44.269 --> 00:10:46.950 too. You see Jesus talking with some of these 00:10:46.950 --> 00:10:50.309 religious folks, and they really love Moses. 00:10:50.509 --> 00:10:53.149 It's pretty clear. They love Moses. They love 00:10:53.149 --> 00:10:56.210 the law of Moses. And they're wanting Jesus to 00:10:56.210 --> 00:10:59.450 do something for them. And they say, oh yeah, 00:10:59.669 --> 00:11:02.950 well, we had manna in the wilderness. And while 00:11:02.950 --> 00:11:05.549 they don't mention Moses specifically, Jesus 00:11:05.549 --> 00:11:09.090 obviously knows what they're trying to say. Because 00:11:09.090 --> 00:11:12.490 his response is, Moses didn't give you manna 00:11:12.490 --> 00:11:15.049 in the wilderness. And so it appears as though 00:11:15.049 --> 00:11:18.070 the argument that the religious people of Jesus' 00:11:18.269 --> 00:11:21.629 day were making was, okay, Moses did this for 00:11:21.629 --> 00:11:24.230 us. What are you going to do for us to show us 00:11:24.230 --> 00:11:27.690 that you're the Son of God? And Jesus goes on 00:11:27.690 --> 00:11:30.830 to say, look, Moses fed the people in the wilderness 00:11:30.830 --> 00:11:33.330 manna. And guess what? They wandered in the wilderness 00:11:33.330 --> 00:11:36.610 and died. So hold up. Maybe you need something 00:11:36.610 --> 00:11:39.600 better than what Moses gave you. And Jesus goes 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:41.720 on to say, I am the bread of life. Now this threw 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:44.279 them for a complete and total loop. They didn't 00:11:44.279 --> 00:11:46.320 really understand what Jesus was saying here. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:49.820 But the point that Jesus was making is, is all 00:11:49.820 --> 00:11:52.159 of these people wanted to follow Moses. Well, 00:11:52.179 --> 00:11:54.259 Moses did this, and Moses did that, and Moses 00:11:54.259 --> 00:11:58.600 did this. But Jesus is making the point that 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:01.620 there is one who is better than Moses who is 00:12:01.620 --> 00:12:05.360 coming. And in all the ways that Moses led the 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:08.720 people and God used him, to lead the people and 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:13.100 provide for the people, ultimately Moses failed. 00:12:14.100 --> 00:12:16.480 Ultimately, even Moses didn't make it to the 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:19.899 promised land. So the highest figure in the Jewish 00:12:19.899 --> 00:12:22.059 religion, the one that they respected and looked 00:12:22.059 --> 00:12:25.740 up to pretty close to the top of the list, maybe 00:12:25.740 --> 00:12:28.419 Abraham would have been above. I don't know how 00:12:28.419 --> 00:12:30.399 the hierarchy would have worked, but Moses would 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:32.600 have been up there at the top, if not the top. 00:12:33.220 --> 00:12:36.539 And Jesus, I believe, is making the point. Look. 00:12:36.940 --> 00:12:39.360 You're looking to Moses, and Moses was good. 00:12:39.500 --> 00:12:42.840 God used him in a mighty way. But now you need 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:45.799 to look past Moses, and you need to look at the 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:48.440 one who's speaking to you. Because I'm the one 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:50.340 who's going to provide for you. Now, after he 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:52.960 says he's the bread of life, when you flip over 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:57.840 to John chapter 7, Jesus says in verse 37, On 00:12:57.840 --> 00:12:59.879 the last and most important day of the festival, 00:13:00.019 --> 00:13:03.559 Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone is thirsty, 00:13:03.860 --> 00:13:07.179 he should come to me and drink. The one who believes 00:13:07.179 --> 00:13:10.679 in me, as the Scripture has said, I will have 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:15.539 streams of living water flow from deep within 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:21.340 him. All right? If anybody is thirsty, come to 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:25.200 me. Now, the people in the Old Testament, they 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:27.500 were thirsty a lot, and they wanted good water, 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:30.769 and they never had a source of good water. They 00:13:30.769 --> 00:13:32.889 only had a source of good water through the messenger 00:13:32.889 --> 00:13:35.870 that the Lord had sent in Moses. And as good 00:13:35.870 --> 00:13:41.110 as Moses was, even Moses failed to be the leader 00:13:41.110 --> 00:13:44.789 that the people needed. And so everything in 00:13:44.789 --> 00:13:48.309 the Old Testament is just pointing us on forward 00:13:48.309 --> 00:13:53.289 onto Jesus. That as God provided manna and water 00:13:53.289 --> 00:13:56.429 from the rock in the Old Testament, well, so 00:13:56.429 --> 00:13:59.480 he provides the bread of life. and the water 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:02.039 of life through Jesus Christ in the New Testament. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:05.720 And maybe that's why God didn't allow Moses to 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:08.100 go into the promised land because of his disobedience. 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:11.539 Maybe it was to make this point. I don't know. 00:14:12.259 --> 00:14:15.720 But I know this. Moses failed. And he was the 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:18.399 highest one that they looked up to, and Moses 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:22.799 failed. But when Jesus came onto the scene, he 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:26.059 is the Son of God who will not fail. He is the 00:14:26.059 --> 00:14:30.049 one who will forever, Provide a source of living 00:14:30.049 --> 00:14:33.190 water. Through his sacrifice, through his crucifixion, 00:14:33.190 --> 00:14:36.830 through his resurrection, he is our source of 00:14:36.830 --> 00:14:40.210 water. Just like the Israelites, we are a people 00:14:40.210 --> 00:14:44.710 who thirst. We are a people who in our deserts, 00:14:44.710 --> 00:14:48.429 in our sin, in our struggles, when all that's 00:14:48.429 --> 00:14:52.009 within us feels dry, we are a people who are 00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:55.830 longing for something to quench our thirst. And 00:14:55.830 --> 00:14:58.269 the only thing that's going to quench the thirst 00:14:58.269 --> 00:15:03.190 of our soul is Jesus Christ. He leadeth me beside 00:15:03.190 --> 00:15:08.350 the still waters. He restoreth my soul. That's 00:15:08.350 --> 00:15:12.129 Jesus. And that's what God's people wanted all 00:15:12.129 --> 00:15:15.549 the way in the Old Testament. And we see it finally 00:15:15.549 --> 00:15:19.169 fulfilled in Jesus Christ in the New Testament. 00:15:19.909 --> 00:15:23.029 So what's your source of water today? Well, I 00:15:23.029 --> 00:15:26.039 can tell you. If it's not Jesus, you don't have 00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:29.019 a source of water. Now, there's lots of water 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:30.980 we can drink. There's lots of things in this 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:33.620 world that say that's going to provide what we 00:15:33.620 --> 00:15:36.740 need, but it ain't real thirst -quenching water. 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:39.179 It's not clean water. It's not pure water. It's 00:15:39.179 --> 00:15:43.700 bitter water. And bitter water and nasty water 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:46.899 will not quench your thirst. It'll only make 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:49.120 you sicker. I remember when we went to Haiti 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:51.899 on the first time we went on a mission trip there. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:55.899 I remember being told repeatedly, whatever you 00:15:55.899 --> 00:15:58.879 do, do not drink the water. Do not drink the 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:02.200 water. Do not drink the water. Only drink bottled 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:04.980 water. Only drink bottled water. Why is that? 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:07.860 Well, we probably take it for granted. We can 00:16:07.860 --> 00:16:10.480 all go home tonight, turn our faucet on, get 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:12.879 some water and drink it and not think twice about 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:16.379 it. But in Haiti, that's not the case. In Haiti, 00:16:16.460 --> 00:16:18.850 their water wells are not very deep. It's a pretty 00:16:18.850 --> 00:16:20.970 grungy place. There's a lot of bad stuff that 00:16:20.970 --> 00:16:24.169 goes on there. So the water is affected, and 00:16:24.169 --> 00:16:26.929 it is not good. Now, you pump that water out, 00:16:26.950 --> 00:16:29.370 you can watch people pumping it out. And the 00:16:29.370 --> 00:16:30.950 people that live there drink it, and they in 00:16:30.950 --> 00:16:33.049 some ways have built up some, I guess, immunity 00:16:33.049 --> 00:16:36.309 to it. But it's crystal clear. It looks as good 00:16:36.309 --> 00:16:39.950 as any water you've ever seen. But it's not pure. 00:16:42.210 --> 00:16:44.429 Now, maybe some of the things in our life that 00:16:44.429 --> 00:16:47.250 we are drawn to, there are some things that... 00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:49.870 The kind of promise of comfort or things that 00:16:49.870 --> 00:16:52.049 seem good to us and things that seem like they're 00:16:52.049 --> 00:16:55.710 going to quench some desire within us? Well, 00:16:55.750 --> 00:16:58.129 they're not. Because the only thing that's going 00:16:58.129 --> 00:17:01.210 to quench what we need in us, the thirst that 00:17:01.210 --> 00:17:03.690 we have, it's a thirst for righteousness, whether 00:17:03.690 --> 00:17:07.769 we recognize it or not. And Jesus Christ is the 00:17:07.769 --> 00:17:10.009 only one who's going to quench that thirst. He 00:17:10.009 --> 00:17:16.240 is our source of living water. So maybe we can 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.640 learn a little bit from the Israelites here. 00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:22.960 One, we need to find out are we thirsty. Two, 00:17:23.140 --> 00:17:25.799 we need to look at ourselves and ask, are we 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:28.519 complainers just like they were? Do we ever do 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:31.980 the same thing? Do we ever see God work and experience 00:17:31.980 --> 00:17:34.460 His deliverance and say, all right, I praise 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:37.619 you, God, and how soon after that before we start 00:17:37.619 --> 00:17:40.519 complaining again? And you may say, well, I don't 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:42.500 ever do that. Or you may say, yeah, well, God 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:44.930 was good to me yesterday and now. I'm finding 00:17:44.930 --> 00:17:46.970 something new to complain about today. Well, 00:17:47.109 --> 00:17:50.609 maybe that's something good for us to think about 00:17:50.609 --> 00:17:52.609 from this story. Something that simple to say, 00:17:52.650 --> 00:17:54.970 okay, God, help me not to complain so much tomorrow. 00:17:55.609 --> 00:17:59.250 You know, maybe I'm going to be okay. Maybe things 00:17:59.250 --> 00:18:01.269 are stressful and tough, and maybe things are 00:18:01.269 --> 00:18:03.329 hard, and maybe my day's not doing good, but 00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:05.829 God, I know you're good. I believe you're good. 00:18:05.890 --> 00:18:08.809 I don't doubt you. I trust you. And I've seen 00:18:08.809 --> 00:18:12.089 you work before, so God, help me not to get caught 00:18:12.089 --> 00:18:14.460 up in the moment. That's so easy to do. They 00:18:14.460 --> 00:18:16.599 always got caught up in the moment. Everything 00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:19.160 was good as long as it was good. And the moment 00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:21.720 it got bad, oh, this is awful. Everything's horrible. 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:24.799 And I think maybe sometimes we're guilty of that. 00:18:25.579 --> 00:18:27.640 But we've got to remember that just as they had 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:30.839 one who led them in Moses, we've got one who 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:33.359 leads us that is so much better than Moses. Praise 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:35.259 the Lord for Moses. He was a good man who did 00:18:35.259 --> 00:18:37.200 what God said. Even though he came up a little 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:40.039 short of the promised land at the end, he's still 00:18:40.039 --> 00:18:42.960 a righteous man of God. He's still... In heaven 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:46.039 today with the Lord. But praise the Lord, we 00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:48.900 have somebody who is better than Moses. A better 00:18:48.900 --> 00:18:53.700 source of water. A better source of a thirst 00:18:53.700 --> 00:18:56.640 quencher who will quench the thirst of our soul. 00:18:56.819 --> 00:18:59.460 Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you 00:18:59.460 --> 00:19:01.119 for these good words and these good stories. 00:19:01.240 --> 00:19:03.759 I pray that we would think about them. And I 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:06.180 pray that your Holy Spirit would help us to see 00:19:06.180 --> 00:19:10.420 how they... impact our life, the things that 00:19:10.420 --> 00:19:12.420 we need to say and we need to learn, dear Lord. 00:19:12.500 --> 00:19:14.839 Maybe we are complainers sometimes and we don't 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:17.099 trust you in the way we should. I pray that you 00:19:17.099 --> 00:19:19.740 forgive us of that and help us maybe to just 00:19:19.740 --> 00:19:21.559 seek you that you'd help us not to fall into 00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:24.740 that trap. And I pray, dear Lord, that we would 00:19:24.740 --> 00:19:26.920 be those who seek Jesus Christ. We thank you 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:31.460 for giving us all of these little stories in 00:19:31.460 --> 00:19:33.220 the Old Testament that just point us forward 00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:35.220 to Jesus and we thank you that we get to see 00:19:35.899 --> 00:19:38.619 All of that unfold and all of that unveiled and 00:19:38.619 --> 00:19:41.700 all of that fulfilled in Jesus Christ. God, I 00:19:41.700 --> 00:19:45.079 pray that if there are some whose souls are thirsting 00:19:45.079 --> 00:19:47.579 today, if they are in the desert of the struggles 00:19:47.579 --> 00:19:49.680 of this life, I pray that they would come to 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.940 Jesus as their source of water, that they would 00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:55.980 repent, that they would trust in Him and make 00:19:55.980 --> 00:19:58.319 Him their Lord and Savior. And I ask these things 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:00.180 in Jesus' name. Amen.