Sermon Text:

Exodus 15:22-27

As the Israelites wander in the wilderness they encounter their first major obstacle - lack of water. When they finally find water the people find that it is undrinkable. The people grumble but YHWH provides by “teaching Moses a tree” Rejecting the traditional interpretation which focuses on the grumbling and lack of faith among the Israelites, we look at the unusual language being used to arrive at a more profound point about what YHWH is trying to teach his people. YHWH is crafting the people into a new kind of society completely opposite of the Egyptians who had enslaved them.