Crossing Bitter Waters

 "Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink? “Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet". Exodus: 15:22-24

After the Great God set the people of Israel free from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, they journeyed through the Wilderness on their Pilgrimage toward the Promised Land, at first, it was a time of joyous celebration as the great victory which the Lord God has accomplished for them in freeing them and then destroying the pursuing army of Pharaoh at the Red Sea.

The people of Israel celebrated and worshiped at the salvation event which they had all been a part of they sing and praise God for his deliverance.

The Song of Moses and Miriam

"Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:“I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted.Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.“The Lord is my strength and my defense ;he has become my salvation.He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea.The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone. Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy."Exodus:15:1-6

But the euphoric joy of the people is not sustained as Israel transverses the Wilderness, as they encountered hardships and testing. The celebratory mood of the people is short lived as they begin to face hardships and the realities of the Wilderness 

Bitter Waters

The people of Israel begin to cross the desert of Shur leaving the Red Sea behind them, but only after three days journey they began to complain to Moses that there is a shortage of water after they arrived at a place called Marah, where the water is "bitter" and they found it undrinkable, and immediately they began to complain about Moses himself.

"Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” (22-24)

Moses confronted with the people of Israel's complaint, he then called out to God for his divine assistance in dealing with it, not just the genuine need of the people for water, but, with the very rebellious attitude which is behind the complaint for it said that “So the people grumbled against Moses" this was the true problem the water issue was just the "phantom issue" to give voice to a deeper problem that the people had.

There was spirit of rebellion present within their hearts and the need for water merely exposed it. 

"Then Moses cried out to the Lord”, (25a)

The Lord God then responded and shows Moses "a piece of wood”, or as it would be better translated from the Hebrew language in which the narrative is written, a " Tree".

We are told in the narrative that when the Prophet Moses threw this "piece of wood" or "Tree”, into the "bitter water" that the water then became "sweet", the opposite of what the water had been. It was the same water but now made "sweet" by the "tree" which had been brought into the midst of the "bitterness" of the water.

"and the Lord showed him a piece of wood (or " Tree"). Moses threw it into the water, and the water became sweet."(25b-c)

It was when this "tree" had placed into the "bitter" water of Marah the water was made "sweet". The water had been transformed by this "tree" which the Lord God had showed to Moses. The people of Israel were then sustained on their pilgrimage toward the Promised land.

Our Bitter Waters

So often, for Christians, the experiences of the people of Israel mirror our own. God sets us free from the slavery and bondage of sin, and brings us out of all that might have held us captive.

We look ahead to the Promised Land of the Kingdom of God and all that our Lord Jesus has ministered to us all by grace. There is time of great rejoicing and praising  God from what he has done for us, all thru his Holy Son Jesus Christ, just as the people of Israel did there upon the shore of the Red Sea.

"Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted."(1)

We enter the pilgrimage Christian life and we rejoice, our enemies are drowned and left behind us as Pharaoh and his armies sank to the depth of the Red Sea.

But, as we Christians journey through the "desert of Shur" in the wilderness of this world and as time wears on, we in our Christian lives will encounter situations in life that are "bitter".

These "bitter" waters, these places of Marah, can take many forms. We can encounter setbacks, disappointments, loneliness, failure, lost relationship and we can even, as Israel did, turn one eye back to Egypt, thinking about the life we had before we came to believe in Jesus. There are many problems which can cause us to express many of the attitudes which the people of Israel did.

We may find ourselves in our pilgrimage to the Kingdom of God, camped at "Marah", near "bitter" water in this life, when "bitter" situation arise.

Throw The Tree in

But as Lord God provided a means to turn the "bitter" water of "Marah" "sweet " when Moses threw the "tree" in the midst of the "bitter" waters they were made "sweet". The "tree" which the Lord God showed Moses was the solution to the people of Israel problem and need and all of our as well.

St. Paul intones that there is the "tree" of the Cross as the solution to all our "bitter" problems in our lives, as our Lord bore the curse of the Law and its claim upon each and all of lives.

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE "Gal:3:13

When we Christians face "bitter" water in life, whatever form this "bitter" water takes, the answer is to take hold of the work of our Lord upon the "tree" of his Cross.

The Cross of Jesus opened to us the "sweet water of his grace", which pours forth unto each and all our lives, turning even the "bitter" water of life's circumstances.

So, when the "tree" that Jesus was offered upon, that Cross, is brought into the midst of the "bitter" water of life, they can be made "sweet”. Jesus carried more than just a Cross to Calvary, Jesus bore our sorrows, and all the "bitter" things which it produces in our lives.

Whatever the sources of the "bitter" water is which we might be drinking at this time in our lives, there is an answer for us in God's Holy Son Jesus Christ.

No matter how "bitter" the waters of life can be, when we look to the work of Jesus on the "tree" of his Cross, these waters are turned "sweet", healing and restoration.

 We are reminded by the "tree" of Jesus' Cross that our enemies have been drowned in the Red Sea and now no longer pursue us. The "tree" of the Cross has dealt with any and all things, which can keep us out of a relationship with our God.

There is hope for today and on into eternity, the "tree" of the Cross of Jesus makes "sweet" life's "bitter" water.

Benediction: May we each and all, ever throw the "Tree" of our Lord Jesus' Cross into the "Bitter" waters of life truing the waters "Sweet", today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen!

Rev.Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma

                                        "If It Is Not About Jesus, It Is Not About Anything"