At this point in
\nhistory, Israel
\nwas a redeemed people ({{Ex 15:25}}). Slavery’s chains had been broken, and their foes
\noverwhelmed in the waters of the Red Sea. They
\nwere led into a new and living way, which God had opened for them through the
\nplace of death. Then they sang praises to God for so great a deliverance. After
\nthree days’ journey, however, without finding water, they came to Marah, where
\nthere was water; but so bitter they could not drink it. There are a few lessons
\nwe may learn from this.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The World Has Such trials touch vital matters. It would not have been too bad if the The spirit and temper of the world cannot in any way contribute to The Flesh has In such dire circumstances doubts arise. These were the early days of Israel’s The new life of the redeemed has different tastes and delights and hopes The Cross has The tree symbolizes the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The tree was to The Lord Jesus is the Tree of Life in Scripture. It was He who was It is this blessed Lord Jesus who is the antidote for all our cares. The
\na Bitter Taste to the Redeemed<\/strong>
\nRight from the beginning of their new life they found the world a
\nwilderness and its waters bitter. Freedom from slavery is surely better than
\nbondage with sweetness, but those who experience salvation can be brought into
\nsevere testings which challenge faith. The joy of deliverance soon gave way to
\nmurmuring. The many and great benefits bestowed on them suddenly seemed to
\nvanish away, and so did their praises.<\/p>\n
\nproblem had been no milk or no wine. Believers can manage without luxuries. But
\nto find no drinkable water was to imperil the preservation of life itself.
\nMarah waters came out of an accursed earth, and this should surely teach us,
\nand be illustrative of the fact, that this earth has nothing at all with which
\nto refresh the souls of a redeemed people. When they most need succor, the
\nworld can provide none.<\/p>\n
\nChristian life. What springs up from it is gall and wormwood. The motives which
\ngovern the world of men no longer appeal to the believer: the lust for money
\nmaking, the seeking of worldly honor, the attendance at worldly amusements. Nor
\ndo true believers find their happiness in worldly company. Among them we have
\nto labor for the bread that perisheth, but their company is not our delight.
\nMost of all, we cannot follow their principles and practices. All these things
\nare now bitter to a man in Christ.<\/p>\n
\nBitter Enmity toward God<\/strong>
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The people murmured against Moses\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> ({{Ex 15:24}}), which was actually
\nmurmuring against the Lord. There are times when the Lord’s people, having
\nfound the emptiness of the world, seek their refreshment from natural causes
\nand fellow mortals. The barrenness of the desert and the bitterness of Marah’s
\nwaters brought out this deep enmity of the flesh against all that is of God. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Murmur<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nis an infantile sound, and in days of spiritual childhood it seems natural to
\nmurmur against the arrangements and dispensations of God’s providence.<\/p>\n
\ndeliverance. Instead of a carpet of roses, they found themselves in a
\nwilderness, and instead of the wine of good cheer, they found bitter waters.
\nPerhaps the disappointment is natural since all of the old life is cut off, and
\nmurmuring arises from the ground of that disappointment. The new life never
\nbecomes a cup of blessing until we have entered more fully into the Lord’s
\ninheritance. The trouble with Israel
\nwas that they spent forty years in the wilderness when God had made it only an
\neleven-day experience.<\/p>\n
\nand joys. But it has its trials, simply because it has to exist now in a
\nhostile and not a friendly world. The remains of the flesh in us, not yet
\ncrucified, can bring torment and challenge. We may wonder and question why God
\nallows us sickness, sorrow, and bereavement. We perhaps did not expect the
\nfailure of our children to walk with us in the heavenward way. The reproach and
\nreviling of those with whom we work can vex the righteous soul! It makes us
\nwonder to see older Christians lose their love for Christ, their conscience
\nblunted in business dealings, their fires of witness burnt out to dry ash, and
\nwith no more enjoyment in heavenly things. These are all bitter experiences for
\nnewborn souls in Christ.<\/p>\n
\na Sweet Influence to the Saint<\/strong>
\n“The Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters,
\nthe waters were made sweet\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> ({{Ex. 15:25}}). This was not a tree with which the
\nBedouins were acquainted, nor would the dwellers in the desert have the
\nslightest idea how to make the bitter waters of the desert sweet with such
\nvegetation. This power is not inherent in any tree. It was something especially
\nimparted by the Spirit of of God to teach a spiritual principle.<\/p>\n
\nbe cut down, and thus was our blessed Lord on the cross of Calvary. But
\nthe man of God, God’s representative, Moses, cast that cut-down tree into the
\nbitter waters. This immediately had a transforming effect: the bitter waters
\nwere suddenly made sweet by it.<\/p>\n
\nsymbolized by a tree in Eden’s
\ngarden in the beginning of God’s Book. He was figured in the burning bush,
\nwhich Moses saw in the desert
\nof Midian\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe bush that
\nburned, but was not consumed. He was the tree David the psalmist wrote about in
\nPsalm 1: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that
\nbringeth forth His fruit in His season; His leaf also shall not wither\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>
\n({{Ps. 1:3}}). He is pictured in the Tree of Life found at the end of the Book in
\nthe midst of the heavenly Jerusalem,
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and
\nthe leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> ({{Rev. 22:2}}).<\/p>\n
\ntree flung into the bitter waters made them sweet and drinkable and
\nlife-giving. Oh, wondrous cross! Glorious cross! Blessed interpreter of the
\nlove of God to us. Let it soak into all our trials, vexations, sorrows,
\nbereavements, discontent, and disappointments. It was Marah that taught Israel the
\nsweetness of the tree, and it is only the cross of the Lord Jesus which can
\nsweeten our life here below.<\/p>\n