| “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” (Exodus 15:22-23). |
| The Lord had worked wonderful miracles in Egypt on behalf of His people, by bringing terrible plagues on the land of Egypt. Finally, when Pharaoh would not let the people go, He killed the firstborn in every house where there was no blood on the door. Then He brought them to the Red sea, where they walked through with a wall of water on each side of them. Then the Lord brought the water back onto the Egyptian army, so that they were all drowned. What a wonderful deliverance! |
| But the Israelites soon found out that all their difficulties were not over. They had escaped Egypt, but now they still had to rely on the Lord in the wilderness. Everything was not perfect there, but the Lord was the same. The same Lord who had delivered them from Pharaoh could take care of them in the wilderness. Sad to say, the Israelites soon forgot all this. |
| As we see in our verses above, they went three days journey in the wilderness, and could not find any water. This would have been hard, for not only did the people need to drink, but so did all their cattle. Then, when they did find water, it was bitter. But instead of looking to the Lord, they complained to Moses. But the Lord answered their complaints with grace, and showed Moses a tree. When he had put the tree into the waters, it made them sweet. |
| We know that the tree speaks of the cross of Christ. When we first get saved we are very happy, but then as we start out on our Christian pathway, sometimes we are surprised that there are difficulties. But the Lord has not promised us an easy path, and like the waters of Marah, sometimes our everyday lives may seem hard. Then we need to think of the Lord Jesus on the cross. That means that we remember that this world has rejected our Savior, and crucified Him. But He can turn those bitter waters into something sweet, for then we learn that the same Lord who died for us is able to take care of us in the desert too. We learn more of our Savior in going through difficulties than if everything goes smoothly. |
| Later, the Lord brought them to a place called Elim, where there were twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees. They not only had water, but food too! How good the Lord is to us! |
