Three Day Victory???
Exodus 14:19-20 “And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.”
This is the time where God steps in on the scene, and your enemies start getting uneasy and even confused. I like to see my enemies this way. I like to see the enemies of God running around in circles killing each other instead of killing me.
Historians believe that about 3.5 million Israelites came out of Egypt. In order for them to cross the Red Sea in one day, they would have to walk in rows of 5,000 across. The path across the sea would have been about three miles wide. When God parts a sea, he really parts a sea.
Once God has delivered you, take time to stop and to praise. What happened when the children of Israel came across the sea? Miriam got up and grabbed her tambourine, and they began to rejoice.
Exodus 15:19-21 “For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. 20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21 And Miriam answered them: “Sing to the Lord, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”
The children of Israel are worshipping God, being led by the prophetess Miriam. You know they were thinking, “What can stop us now?” They watched their pursuers get washed away in the Red Sea. The Israelites were riding high that day, but then in a few days, things start to change.
Exodus 15:22 “So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.”
According to the U.S. Army Quartermaster General, to feed 3.5 million people in the wilderness would require 1500 tons of food per day. That would fill two freight trains, each a mile long. It would also require 11 million gallons of water—including drinking water, bathing, and washing a few dishes and clothes. That is scary for Moses. He had a big job ahead of him.
Exodus 15: 23-24 “Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
How could the same people that were singing and praising God three days earlier start grumbling and complaining so soon? You can be on fire for God, and three days later, you can lose it all. It just takes the right circumstances. You can lose your victory in three days, three hours, three minutes, or three seconds. You can get up in the morning feeling good, and then your spouse walks by and says something. In just a matter of seconds, you lost your victory.
Once God has delivered you, take time to stop and to praise.
Exodus 15:25 “So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them.”
There is a lot in this scripture. Did you ever stop and think that when adversity hits you, perhaps God is just waiting to see what your reaction will be? Maybe He has a promotion in line for you, but He wants to make sure you are ready for it. When you fail the test and fail the test again, so He sends you back to repeat the grade.
What was their test? There was bitterness in the water. I think there was prophetic revelation here that they were not getting. There was bitterness in the water. When you serve Pharaoh for four hundred years, I can see how some bitterness might seep into your heart. It is easy to get bitter when something bad happens to you. Even when you are free from the problem, you can still become bitter over it.
Medical science has been revealing to us that many sicknesses and diseases that we fight are caused by bitterness. In the book of Proverbs, it says that bitterness will dry up your bones. That sounds like osteoporosis. There are numerous diseases caused by stress, fear, bitterness, and anxiety. These things get in our bodies and destroy us from the inside. These issues can cause arthritis, ulcers, and various other diseases. In my experiences, I have seen that nearly eight out of ten people that I have prayed for with arthritis have held unforgiveness against someone. God is saying that if we take the tree He shows us and cast it into the water, the bitter waters will be made sweet. If you look at the next verse, this gets very interesting.
Exodus 15:26 “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statues, / will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”
Why did God choose to reveal Himself at the pool of bitterness as the Healer? Why would He choose that pool? This was not about sickness and disease; this was about bitter waters. God knows that until you deal with bitterness in your heart, you will have a runway in your life for the devil to land with sickness and disease. The only way to deal with bitterness is when the tree, or the cross, comes into your water, or your heart. When you choose the cross, you can look down on those who afflict you and say, “God forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.” (Luke 23:34) When you are on the cross, you can look down and release love instead of bitterness and unforgiveness and resentment. It is an awesome thing when the tree comes into your waters. A bitter soul is made sweet, and there you can meet Jesus the healer.
Three days. It only took three days from living through the mighty miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, from being delivered from the hand of Pharaoh, and all the plagues that had come upon the Egyptians….three days or 72 hours for the Israelites to come upon an inconvenience that caused them to revert back to complaining and grumbling. This is why it is so important to study the Word of God and apply it to our lives. As we glean these important truths from the Word of God, we can understand the importance of trusting God in every inconvenient situation and know that He will come through! If He can part the Red Sea and dry up the water, surely He can provide water to drink!
*excerpt from the book #FOLLOW
- Date - January 29, 2020
- Author - David Chisholm
