One of the most important lesson from the Book of Exodus comes from what we read in chapter 15. Up to this point God has:
- Called Moses to deliver His people, the Israelites, from slavery in Egypt
- His command to Moses was to take His people a 3-day journey in the wilderness and there offer Him a sacrifice 1.
- God send 10 plagues upon Egypt in judgment
- After the 10th plague, Pharaoh and the Egyptians not only send the people out, but send them out with money and provisions.
- After they miraculously cross the Red Sea on dry ground, God destroys the Egyptian army as they pursue after His people.
- The Israelites see and experience all of this firsthand.
- Now across the Red Sea and delivered from the hand of the enemy, they sing a new song of praise for their God 2
Now that we are caught up, notice what happens after all of the above:
“So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?”
Exodus 15:22-27 KJV
“And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.”
Now, before we break the story down and discern what it means for us today, let’s take a look at a few details:
- God told Moses to take the people a 3-day journey into the wilderness, out of Egypt, and there offer Him a sacrifice. God never told Moses what kind of sacrifice He wanted. This is evidenced by the text and what Moses speaks to Pharaoh in Ex. 10:26.
- So after witnessing all the miracles, the people praise God and travel 3 days into the wilderness. At this point, they are thirsty. They are in the desert / wilderness region. They are tired, thirsty, and do not know where they are going. They are sleeping outside. There are no buildings or structures for safety. They finally come to water, but the waters there are bitter, and they cannot drink them.
- In Hebrew, the word ‘Marah’ means bitter. Here I believe it has two applications in the story. Yes…it applies to the bitter water, but it also applies to the Israelites–they too were bitter.
- Verse 25 makes it clear that this situation was on purpose. It was designed by the Lord to prove or test them. God had purposely led Moses and His people on a 3-day journey that would lead them directly to undrinkable waters when they would be the most thirsty.
- The Lord demonstrates…again…that nothing is impossible for Him. He has Moses, by way of symbolic miracle, make the waters pure to drink.
- Seemingly just over the next hill was Elim, where there was a literal oasis complete with 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees.
Our Take-Aways:
- The Sacrifice: We are never told what sacrifice God wanted after the 3-days. However, we do know that none was offered. Also, we know that on the 3rd day, the people’s sweet praise of God had turned to bitter complaining about God. This was a test from the Lord. Tests from God are not trials to trip us up, but rather x-rays to show us what the Lord already knows is inside us. In a mere three days, after all the miracles they had witnessed, their praise quickly turned to bitterness; their shallow façade had been stripped away thereby revealing their true heart.
In the New Testament, James 3:11-12 reads, does “a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” 3
The people had started off praising God (sweet waters coming forth from their lips), but as soon as things got difficult, the fountain of their lips quickly turned bitter. As believers in Christ, we will be tested, tried, and put through the proverbial ringer. The lesson, challenge, and question for us is: when we experience difficult times, will we forget to praise God, and thank Him? Will we too turn bitter? I believe that when we question ‘why is God letting me go through this?’ the very answer may be found in what comes out of our mouth. How we respond to a trial may tell us why we went through it. Jesus Himself said, whatever comes out of the mouth proceeds from what’s in our heart. 4
Again, we are never told what kind of sacrifice God wanted from the Israelites on the 3rd day, but maybe, just maybe, it was a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving…despite the circumstances. We will undoubtedly encounter many ‘Marah’ (bitter) situations in our journey in life, we cannot control what comes our way. We do however, control how we respond. May we never become ‘Marah’ ourselves.
- Elim – the Oasis: God purposely led His people to a difficult situation and a place of choice. When they came to the bitter waters of Marah, they could either (a) praise God in spite of their circumstances, trusting in His character, provision and promises, or (b) they could forget all that God had done and complain. From the text, we know they forgot the Lord and complained.
Another tragedy in the story is that seemingly over the next hill was an Oasis. Had they chosen option ‘a,’ and chose to praise God and continue walking with Him, they would have seen His provision just over the next hill. We too must not give up. We should never lose hope. If the Lord is for us, who can be against us? We need to trust in Him without compromise. He demonstrated His love for us 2,000 years ago on the cross. He has provided for us faithfully since that time, and will continue to do so.
Maybe our Elim, our place of rest and healing, is just over the next hill. Take the next step of faith.
Article FootnotesYou will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
Isaiah 26:3 NKJV