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Last Week’s Work

Hi there! Did you have a chance to dig a little deeper into Exodus 15:22-27 this week? I had a limited amount of time to devote to study, but the LORD used it in amazing ways, as He always does!

REPETITION

I noticed just one repeated concept in these six verses: water. It appears in four verses: once in the first two verses, and twice each in two other verses. Two-thirds of the six verses mention this subject, which I believe makes it important, and I can’t help but think it may allude to something more than ordinary water. It reminds me of Jesus’s first recorded miracle (turning water to wine at a wedding) and how often He performed miracles of healing. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself… right now I’m just observing what the passage says, looking for gems that might help me when I seek to understand more about verse 26 (one of the two that do not mention water).

SPECIAL STATEMENTS

I found four types of special statements in this short passage. The first is the prayer Moses cried to the LORD about Israel being unable to drink the bitter water at Marah. The other three I found in my focus verse, in the conditional blessing and/or promise that the LORD would put none of the diseases of the Egyptians on Israel if they followed the four commands (see the List section, below) He laid out for them.

LISTS

As mentioned above, the one list I located in my focus verse details the four commands the LORD instructed Israel to obey to remain healthy:

1. Listen to the voice of the LORD your God,
2. Do that which is right in his eyes,
3. Give ear to his commandments, and
4. Keep all his statutes.

Tall order! I am so glad that Jesus came to make a way for us to stay in relationship with the LORD our Healer that doesn’t involve being “perfectly perfect in every way.” Praise God for that!

Dig-In Challenges

1. PRAYING the prayer we wrote for Step 1.
2. MINING comparisons by reading through the passage again looking for statements of difference or similarity in or related to your focus verses. These may be statements featuring key words such as like, as, is, are, or of; qualitative comparisons indicating how one item is more or less than another; and/or contrasts which highlight or discuss how one concept differs from another.
3. MINING: Next, look for causes or motives by focusing on key words or phrases I call cause connectors. In the ESV translation of this study text, look for the connectors because, for (where it means because), and therefore in your focus verses, then check the text surrounding the connector for an action and the reason or explanation for that action. For example: in the sentence,
   I went to the store, for I was out of milk:
   The action = went to the store     for [because]    the reason = out of milk.
   NOTE: the word for doesn’t always connect actions and reasons. To determine if it does in your verses, read the sentences containing it while substituting the word because in place of for. If the sentence(s) created from this exercise make(s) sense and mean(s) the same as the original, look for the action statement before the for and the stated reason after the for.
   With therefore, you’ll find the reason first, and the action after:
   I was out of milk, therefore I went to the store.
   The reason = I was out of milk, and the action = I went to the store.
4. MINING: Finally, see if you can find any conditions for action in this study text, and/or descriptions of how action happens or should happen.
   – For example, does the text say if or when a certain condition exists, some action takes place?
   And/or
   – Does the author describe a method or process (for example, specific steps) taken to achieve something?
   Or
   – Does he indicate how action is accomplished more generally by or through attributes or actions (e.g., saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8)?
   – Finally, does the text include any adverbs (typically words ending in ly) that describe how action happens?

These exercises are a bit more involved, but I’m confident you can do this with the Holy Spirit! Don’t forget to check your How to Dig Into Scripture Ourselves guide, and you can always reach out to me at [email protected] if you have questions.