Bitter Water after Dividing a Sea

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Bitter Water after Dividing a Sea

• Exodus 15.22-27

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Martin Luther

• "As a young man I made myself familiar with the
  Bible by reading it again and again I came to
  know my way about in it. Only then did I consult
  writers of books about the Bible. But finally I
  had to put them out of my sight and wrestle with
  the Bible itself. Its better to see with one's
  own eyes than with another's."

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(No Transcript)
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The Problem with Seminaries

• Losing sight of the reasons why you came to
  Seminary.

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Bitter Water after Dividing a Sea

• Exodus 15.22-27

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Exod 15.22-23

• Then Moses made Israel to set out from the Sea of
  Reeds, and they went into the Wilderness of Shur.
  They travelled three days in the wilderness, but
  they did not find water.
• When they came to Marah, they could not drink the
  water of Marah because it was bitter. Therefore
  one calls its name Marah.

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Exod 15.24-25

• So the people complained against Moses, saying,
  "What will we drink?"
• Then he cried out to Yahweh and Yahweh taught him
  a tree. He threw it into the water and the water
  became sweet. There he made for him rule and
  judgement, and there he tested him.

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Exod 15.26

• And he said, "If you diligently listen to the
  voice of Yahweh your God and what is straight in
  his eyes you do and give ear to his commands and
  observe all his rules, all the disease that I set
  in Egypt, I will not set on you. For I am Yahweh
  your healer.

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Exod 15.27

• Then they came to Elim, and there, there were
  twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees.
  So they camped there by the water.

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1. No Water, Bitter Water

• Much Water The context of this pericope is
  teaming with water. . . . Sea of Reeds (15.1-21),
  bitter water (15.23), "twelve springs of water. .
  . camped there by the water" (15.27)?
• "Water" used 7x in these verses!
• "What shall we drink?"

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Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
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2. Complaining

• "The people's discontent - it is certainly not a
  rebellion . . . ." Childs

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2. Complaining

• Two Angles on "complaining," "murmuring"
• 1. When people complain against us
• 2. When we complain against others

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How to Complain

• Complain about the problem, not just the
  symptoms.
• Choose the right time to complain.
• Complain to the right person.

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How to Complain

• Complain after appropriate self-introspection.
• Complain for solutions, don't blame.
• Don't only complain, show appreciation

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3. Yahweh Taught him

• Although the Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint
  have "showed him" the MT has "taught"

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3. Yahweh Taught him

• The "tree," or more likely bush or shrub points
  to a non-supernatural / supernatural means of the
  dealing with the problem.
• "Learning" as an issue.

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4. Rule and Judgement

• ". . . . There he made for him rule and judgement
  . . . ."
• In 15.26 the terms are plural, here they are
  singular.

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5. Testing?

• ". . . and there he tested him."
• Exod 16.4 "that I may test them"
• Exod 20.20 "Do not be afraid for God has come in
  order to test you and the reverence of him will
  be before you so that you do not sin."

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Testing Educational Assessments

• Assessment is a learning experience for the
  student.
• Assessment communicates the course goals to the
  student.
• Assessment identifies misunderstandings.

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Testing Educational Assessments

• Assessment helps the teacher pace the course.
• Assessment helps establish the grade.
• McKeachie

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Regrouping it all

• 1. Needs in People's lives
• 2. Complaining
• 3. Being Taught, Being Tested, Learning . . . .