Exo 15:24 | KingComments | STEP | The song is sung. The journey begins. Three days into the wilderness and then a feast for the LORD, that is God’s purpose ( ). But that’s not how it goes. It does not become a feast, it becomes a trial. That is exactly why God lets His people go through the wilderness: they get to know themselves there, what is in their hearts, and they get to know God there ( ). Even today, after conversion, the believer only gets to know himself well through the situations of everyday life. Perhaps we could ask ourselves how it is possible for Israel to grumble so soon after that great salvation. If so, we probably do not know ourselves. Did it never happen to us that at a certain moment we were very impressed by God’s goodness, while at the next moment we thought God has forsaken us? The first experience the people undergo in the wilderness is that there is no water. When they reach a place where there is water, the water turns out to be bitter. Marah means ‘bitterness’ (cf. ). The water is not drinkable. The wilderness is the land of death. The lesson to be learned is that the world has nothing that can refresh the believer. The sources of the world are bitter. They always disappoint after we have been pleased. God wants us to know His power not only in salvation, but in all circumstances of life. This setback brings to light what is in the heart of the people. They start grumbling. Grumbling is a great evil. In Paul’s exhortations in 1 Corinthians 10 it is the last in a list of five serious deviations by Israel on the journey through the wilderness: “Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer” ( ). In the book of Numbers God will punish this evil of grumbling. That is because the people then stand on the basis of the law. Here God does not punish, but acts in grace. He does not take away the trial, but wants, in picture, to introduce Christ into the trial. We see that in His instruction to take a tree. In this tree we may see: 1. Christ Himself (cf. ); 2. Christ’s work on the tree, i.e. the cross ( ; ). The Person of Christ and His accomplished work on the cross of Calvary is the remedy against every ailment, against every plague. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the remedy for the bad situation in which the Corinthians find themselves and also for the error to which the Galatians have surrendered. In both letters the believers are called to turn to Him again; they must be brought back into a living relationship with Him. Where Christ is introduced into the trial, the trial becomes a blessing. The water becomes fresh. To this event God connects a statute: He commits Himself to help the people. He gives the people the right to remind Him of this. He has tried the people and shown how His heart goes out to them in goodness in that trial. But God’s blessing can never come without obedience on the part of the people. God expects them to give heed to His voice and keep His commandments. In this way they will be free from all the diseases that He has put on the Egyptians. The LORD links His name as Healer to their obedience.

‏ Exodus 15:24

Marah

The song is sung. The journey begins. Three days into the wilderness and then a feast for the LORD, that is God’s purpose (Exo 7:16 ; Exo 8:27-28). But that’s not how it goes. It does not become a feast, it becomes a trial. That is exactly why God lets His people go through the wilderness: they get to know themselves there, what is in their hearts, and they get to know God there (Deu 8:2). Even today, after conversion, the believer only gets to know himself well through the situations of everyday life.

Perhaps we could ask ourselves how it is possible for Israel to grumble so soon after that great salvation. If so, we probably do not know ourselves. Did it never happen to us that at a certain moment we were very impressed by God’s goodness, while at the next moment we thought God has forsaken us?

The first experience the people undergo in the wilderness is that there is no water. When they reach a place where there is water, the water turns out to be bitter. Marah means ‘bitterness’ (cf. Rth 1:20). The water is not drinkable. The wilderness is the land of death. The lesson to be learned is that the world has nothing that can refresh the believer. The sources of the world are bitter. They always disappoint after we have been pleased. God wants us to know His power not only in salvation, but in all circumstances of life.

This setback brings to light what is in the heart of the people. They start grumbling. Grumbling is a great evil. In Paul’s exhortations in 1 Corinthians 10 it is the last in a list of five serious deviations by Israel on the journey through the wilderness: “Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer” (1Cor 10:10).

In the book of Numbers God will punish this evil of grumbling. That is because the people then stand on the basis of the law. Here God does not punish, but acts in grace. He does not take away the trial, but wants, in picture, to introduce Christ into the trial. We see that in His instruction to take a tree. In this tree we may see:

1. Christ Himself (cf. Lk 23:31);

2. Christ’s work on the tree, i.e. the cross (Gal 3:13; 1Pet 2:24a).

The Person of Christ and His accomplished work on the cross of Calvary is the remedy against every ailment, against every plague. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the remedy for the bad situation in which the Corinthians find themselves and also for the error to which the Galatians have surrendered. In both letters the believers are called to turn to Him again; they must be brought back into a living relationship with Him.

Where Christ is introduced into the trial, the trial becomes a blessing. The water becomes fresh. To this event God connects a statute: He commits Himself to help the people. He gives the people the right to remind Him of this. He has tried the people and shown how His heart goes out to them in goodness in that trial.

But God’s blessing can never come without obedience on the part of the people. God expects them to give heed to His voice and keep His commandments. In this way they will be free from all the diseases that He has put on the Egyptians. The LORD links His name as Healer to their obedience.