Walking into desks

Walking into desks

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. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 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. (Exodus 15:23-25).

The majority of Exodus 15 is a hymn of praise to God for bringing the children of Israel through the Red Sea in the most incredible act of salvation. We have the song of Moses and the people, and the song of Miriam. I doubt there has ever been such a vast choir worshipping God so joyously. It is an amazing scene of a nation responding as one to the God of their salvation. Then we come to the waters of Marah.

Within days the beautiful songs of praise had ended. Instead, the same people became a grumbling mass, focusing their displeasure upon the man God chose to lead them into salvation. There is an irrationality about their unbelief. They did not stop to consider for a moment their experience of the power of God’s love for them. Nor did they consider that it was the same God who had now led them into the Wilderness of Shur, and to Marah’s bitter waters. It was in this wilderness, in Genesis 16, that Hagar discovered that God saw her and cared for her. How quickly I can lose faith when tested by the circumstances of life! I have often made the mistake of thinking, or at least acting, as though such circumstances happened by chance and that there was no purpose of God in them.

At work, I once left the drawer of my desk open. Later, as a consequence, I walked into it and hurt my shin. I remember thinking what possible purpose that event had other than to teach me to be more careful. Sometime later, a colleague had a similar experience. I cannot share with you the words that came out of his mouth. But it helped me to understand that God allows us to go through circumstances small and great to make us into the people He wants us to be.

It was not by chance the people were at the waters of Marah. It was to teach them at the beginning of the wilderness journey, and in view of all that they would face, that God would bring blessing out of bitterness. We see this in the stories of men like Jacob and Joseph, and women like Ruth and Hannah. But how did the waters become sweet? By Moses seeing and casting a tree into them. Later, at the end of verse 26, God says, “I am the Lord, your healer” (ESV). It is hard not to think of another tree we are aware of when we read what Moses did. Peter writes about the Lord Jesus, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24, ESV).

We are saved by the love of Christ seen in all its fullness at Calvary. This love teaches us to defeat sin and guides our steps in paths of righteousness. Its healing power presides over our lives. And, in verse 27, that same love leads us to enjoy all the blessings of God in a hostile world, foretold in the oasis that was Elim.