Let us turn to the chapter we
were reading in Exodus chapter 15. I'll read again at the end
of the chapter from verse 23 through 24 and 25. And when they came to Marah,
they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was
called Marah, And the people murmured against Moses, saying,
What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord. And
the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters,
the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute
and an ordinance, and there he proved them. Previously, of course, we have
that remarkable song of Moses, the celebration of what God had
done in not only delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt,
but destroying the armies of Pharaoh in the Red Sea. It's a great song. of triumph, as we see in the
opening words. Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will
sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously, the horse
and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. But it's not only
a triumphant song, In a sense it's also a typical song in that
it has some application surely to us. It doesn't just belong
to the children of Israel and that experience that they had
known those many, many years ago. We're told, aren't we, that
what things soever were written for times were written for our
learning, that we through Patience and comfort of the Scriptures
might have hope. And so, it's not only the song
of Moses concerning Israel. It's taken up in the New Testament.
It's there even in the book of the Revelation. It's a song of
Moses and of the Lamb. All the words that we have there
in Revelation 15.8, the Song of Moses, the Servant of God
and the Song of the Lamb saying, Great and marvellous are thy
works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thy King
of saints. God is that One who is the King
of all his saints, the King of all his people, who will grant
deliverances to them again and again. But how strange it is
that here, after that song, after that celebration of what God
had done for them, we find them in the wilderness, in verse 22. Moses brings them into the wilderness
of Shur, and they travel three days in the wilderness, and then
there's no water. and then there's the bitter waters and the murmurings of the children
of Israel, their complaints and yet in all of this is there not
a lesson for us to learn teaches us something surely of the experiences
of the people of God what a strange course God's children have to
tread there's triumph and then there's trial and trouble. Well
this morning I want us to consider these bitter waters. Mara of
course means bitter. Remember the story that we're
told concerning Naomi in the book of Ruth. When all seemed to go against
her and she eventually comes back to Bethlehem, she left Bethlehem
with her husband, her sons, gone into the land of Moab but there
she seemed to have lost everything and eventually she returns and
they're surprised to see her, he's not this Naomi and she says,
call me not Naomi, pleasant one the meaning of that word, pleasant
one call me not Naomi but call me Mara which means bitter. And that's what we have here.
It's the bitter waters of Mara. And so as we look at these verses
that we've just read as a text, verses 23 through 24 and 25,
I want to take up this subject of the bitter waters and the
healing of these bitter waters. Now God is that one who is able
to appear for his people, whatever be their situation, their trials,
their troubles. He says at the end of verse 26,
I am the Lord, that healeth good. And just two things to consider.
First of all, I want to say something with regards to the waters, and
then secondly to consider the manner in which God heals the
waters. to consider the significance
of this tree, this wood that is cast into the waters to sweeten. First of all though, the waters. We're told there that the End
of verse 22, how they found no water. Moses brought Israel from
the Red Sea and they went into the wilderness of Shur, and they
went three days in the wilderness and found no water. And yet,
not long previously there was far too much water. Not drinking
water of course, but there was a great deal of water at the
Red Sea. And it seemed that there was
no way now for them to continue their advance, as they were fleeing
out of Egypt. The armies of Pharaoh are pursuing
them, there's mountains on each side of them, and there's this
massive war to the Red Sea before them, back in chapter 14. Verse 9, Now the Egyptians pursued
after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen
and his army, and overtook them, encamping by the sea beside Pharaoh's
before Baal Zephon. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the
children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians
marched after them, and they were sore afraid. And the children
of Israel cried out unto the Lord. Well, that seemed such
an impossible situation. This water, this great mass that
was in front of them, how could they now escape? But now the
situation is changed. There they saw nothing but water.
And now they see nothing but land. and no water at all. All is so dry and so barren before
them. What a change in their situation
then at this time. And matters then go from bad
to worse, because when they come to a place where there is water,
and they assume it will be fit for drinking, it's a bitter water. as we see in verse 23, they came
to Marah. And they couldn't drink of the
waters of Marah, for they were bitter. As I said, that's the
very reason why it was given such a name. Oh, they find water,
and what does the water do? It does nothing but mock them.
Here they are at their parts. They're wanting waters to drink. And so what do we find them doing?
They begin to complain again. They begin to murmur against
the Lord, their God. So often this is the case with
them. Even there in chapter 14, we see them as a complaining
people. Whatever the Lord does with them,
they find fault with His dealings. Oh, they forget so quickly the
works that the Lord had done. He had done such a great thing
for them there at the Red Sea. At the end of chapter 14, the
Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians.
And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore, and Israel
saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians,
and the people feared the Lord. and believed the Lord and his
servant Moses were taught. And yet so quickly now they're
ready to complain. Why is this? Because they are
such a forgetful people. Or they soon forget his works. In Psalm 106, where we have something
of a recounting of God's dealings with these people. Time and again
dealing with them in the way of mercy and goodness and grace,
and yet time and again they do nothing but complain against
him and murmur. And it says here, they soon forgot
his works. They soon forget what God has
done and what God is able to do again and again. And what
does God do here? He makes the bit of water sweet. Or they murmur against Moses,
we're told. And what does Moses do as they
murmur? He has to turn to the Lord. Wise
man that he is here. He cries unto the Lord, in verse
25, and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the
waters, the waters were made sweet. All the waters are sweetened
by this tree. Here is a type really. As I said,
we're to recognize that there is that that is typical about
all of God's dealings with the children of Israel. And here
is a type of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to
say more concerning this wood presently. But let me just quote
words from Joseph Hall, who was Bishop of Norwich back in the
17th century, a most gracious bishop. And he wrote a book called
Contemplations. It's consideration of the historic
passages here in the Old Testament Scriptures. And I like the remarks
of that good bishop. He says concerning the type that
we have here, the wood of thy cross is enough to sweeten a
whole sea of bitterness. All the sufferings of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the wood of thy cross is enough to sweeten a whole
sea of bitterness. Make this water sweet. Oh, with
those of us who come to the Word of God, we want to find something
in God's Word, something sweet, something comforting, something
establishing, something to quench us of our thirst, to satisfy
our deepest desires. Think of the language of David. There at the end of his days
in What does he say in Psalm 23? Oh that one would give me
to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem which is by
the gates. The water of the well of Bethlehem. Isn't that again a word that
directs us to the Lord Jesus Christ? He was there at Bethlehem
of course as Christ appeared. It was there that we see the
great mystery of the incarnation, God, manifest in the flesh. Truly, there's some significance
in those words of David, desiring to drink of that well, the water
of the well of Bethlehem. And interestingly here, as we
go on through the passage, we see that after the sweet waters,
They come to a place where there is a great deal of water. At
the end of the chapter they came to Elim, where were twelve wells
of water, and three score and ten palm trees, and they encamped
there by the waters. Twelve wells. And we think of
the twelve tribes of Israel. There's a well for each of the
tribes. There's no need now for any strife
amongst the children of Israel. They all have their own well.
What a provision the Lord God is able to make for His people. For they can draw water out of
these wells to satisfy them all. Isaiah speaks, doesn't he, of
the wells of salvation. the wells of salvation. With
joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Again, we're to think of that
that is supplied by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Is He not
the well of salvation? All the water that I shall give
Him, says Christ, shall be in Him, a well of water, springing
up unto everlasting life. There is some lesson then to
learn from what we're told here concerning these various waters. One moment there's no water at
all. There's nothing there, then they
come to waters and they're bitter waters, but God sweetens the
bitter waters. And then God goes further and
he provides them with an abundance of waters. This is the way of
our God, is it not? The way in which He deals so
graciously with His people. And what do we read here, at
the end of this 25th verse? There, He made for them a statute
and an ordinance. And there He proves them, how
the Lord proves His people. But here we also have that that
is a statute and an ordinance, some lesson here, there's some
significance in what is happening. And it's for us, by the grace
of God, to seek to draw out some profitable lessons. There's a
general application. These things stand for all time. We know that the Lord God will
always prove His people. as He is proving the children
of Israel. He will prove us. But it reminds us, doesn't it,
of how God does prove His people. There's the bitter sweet of the
life of faith. Isn't that a truth? What is this
life that we're living if we're the Lord's professed people?
And not only as professed people, but those who are truly in possession
of the grace of God. In many ways, it's a bitter,
sweet life that we have to live here upon the earth. We have
it in that little couplet that we just sang in the hymn. For
though our cup seems filled with gore, there's something secret
sweetens all. Oh, the Lord, you see, is able
to make that that is bitter sweet. Now, Paul plainly refers to these
matters when we come to the New Testament. Look at the language
that we have there in the 10th chapter of the first epistle
to the Corinthians. There in the opening verses of
that 10th chapter. Paul writes to this Gentile church,
"'Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant,
that all our fathers..." The church at Corinth was principally
made up of Gentiles, not of Jews. But he is reminding them, you
see, that though they be Gentiles, the fathers, these Israelites
in the Old Testament, there's that that is typical about their
lives. Moreover brethren I would not
that you should be ignorant that all our fathers were under the
clouds and all passed through the sea and were all baptized
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea and did all eat the same
spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink for
they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that
rock was Christ There is a principle established here. He goes on
to say, doesn't he, at verse 11, concerning these matters,
all these things happened unto them for examples. Or as he says
in the margin, happened unto them for types. And they are
written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are
come. Friends, there is some spiritual
lesson for us to learn from this portion of scripture that we're
considering this morning. It's not just a matter of Bible
study and Bible history, it's a spiritual book. There's something
to be learned. And as I've already intimated,
what do we see? We see that these people have
a life that is very changeable. Their situations are forever
changing from day to day, from moment to moment. As we said,
they're confronted by a great mass of water at the Red Sea,
and then they go into the wilderness, and there's no water. No water
to drink, and they come and they find water, and it's bitter water. Oh, what a strange, various life
it is that they're living. Remember those words of the Psalmist,
Psalm 55, 19, concerning the ungodly, because they have no
change. because they have no changes,
therefore they fear not God. The ungodly are not in that secret. It's the godly who have these
sort of changes. We have that paraphrase of the
psalm, Through all the changing scenes of life, in troubles and
in joy, the praises of my God shall still my heart and tongue
implore. all the changing scenes of life
were to be looking to God. And here, of course, as they
consider the works of God, they're brought to this great place of
deliverance. We have this tremendous song,
this song of Moses, a triumphant song. And yet, so soon afterwards,
so soon, we come to wilderness. and wants, and bitterness. But it's part and parcel of the
way in which God deals with His people. How is it that God establishes
His people? Well, the Lord Jesus Himself,
speaking concerning the sheep of His fold, He says they go
in and out and find pasture. It's an in and out, it's an up
and down sort of a life that we're having to live if we are
those who are the true Israel of God. And at times God does bring his
people to favored spots. Or when they come eventually
to this place called Elim. Oh what a place is this, there's
plenty of water. There's great provision. and
there's shade and shelter here they'll be able to refresh themselves
what we have to learn surely is that whatever our circumstances
in life we're to be those who are satisfied to know that the
Lord is with us, that the Lord is dealing with us all remember
the words of the Apostle he says I know both how to be a base
and I know how to abound in everything, in all things. I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer
need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengthen us most. Whatever be our circumstances,
the Lord Jesus Christ is that one who is the same. He is the
same yesterday, today, forever. I am the Lord, He says. I change
not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Or whatever
be our situation, then the Lord is able to appear for us. And
He teaches us all the time. We have to learn that in this
world we have no permanent place of rest. Here we have no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. No continuing city here, but
there remaineth a rest for the people of God, we are taught.
God will make provision. We look not at the things which
are seen, but the things which are not seen. The things which
are seen are temporal. The unseen things are the eternal
things. I have not seen nor heard, neither
have I entered into the hearts of men the things that God hath
prepared for them that love Him." Lord, do we really believe these
things? Hear them with regards to these
waters. There's instruction for us. Lord, the Lord help us to understand
and to trust Him and to look to Him and to rest in Him. I
want to turn in the second place to say something more with regards
to this miracle really that the Lord performs at the hand of
his servant Moses. He cried unto the Lord, we're
told in verse 25, and the Lord showed him a tree which when
he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There
he made for them a statute and an ordinance. and there he proves
them. Now, what is it that really sweetens
this water? Remember what we said, the tree
is a type, and it's a type of Christ in his redemptive work. that great work that he accomplished
on the cross, how it ministers comfort to his people. Well,
that is the source of the believer's comfort. We're going to sing the Hymn
759 presently, and there we have that little couplet. Seek my
soul, no other healing, but in Jesus' barmy blood. or that precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what we're reminded
of, you see, with the tree that is taken and cast into the bitter
waters. It's healing. It's healing. What does the Lord say at the
end of verse 26? I am the Lord that healeth thee. Although our cup is filled with
gore, bitterness, there's something secret sweetens all, it's Christ,
it's Christ. And what comes with saving faith?
Saving faith in Christ will also bring the trial of faith. As
Paul says there at the end of Philippians chapter 1, it is
given unto you in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe
on Him, but also to suffer for his sake. To suffer for his sake. And Paul goes on, doesn't he,
to speak of filling up the measure of Christ's sufferings. The Lord
suffers, His people suffer with Him and they come to know Him
and to understand Him the more and to rejoice the more and the
more in Him. Oh, it's the Lord, you see, who
is doing it all here. The Lord, it says, showed Him
a tray. It's divine sovereignty. It's
always divine sovereignty. It's the Lord Himself revealing
the truth to us. Our eyes are so blinded and our
ears are so deaf and Our minds are so darkened that the Lord
alone can reveal these things to us. No man knoweth the Son
but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. It's always
divine revelation. It was so with Peter, wasn't
it? When he makes that great confession at Caesarea Philippi
concerning Jesus of Nazareth, thou art the cross, the Son of
the living God, he said. And how does the Lord respond?
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto them, but my Father which is in heaven. For no man knoweth
the Son but the Father. The Father must reveal it. And
as the father reveals the son, so the son reveals the father.
This is the experience of the people of God. It wasn't only
so in the case of Simon Peter, it was the same with the Apostle
Paul. As he says there in the opening
chapter of Galatians, Oh, it pleased God, he says. It pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb to reveal his son
in me. And then what does he do? He
doesn't consult with flesh and blood. No, it's the work of the
Lord. It's what the Lord does. It's
divine sovereignty. It's the Lord working and the
Lord revealing, opening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears, illuminating
darkened minds, softening hard hearts. It was the Lord who had
to do it. The Lord showed him a trail. All that the Lord would reveal
to us, you see, the wonder of that cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ and all the blessings that flow from that, all the
sweetness that comes even when our lives seem to be so bitter
and so dark and so difficult at times. And oh, it sweetens. Oh, how it sweetens. How is it done? As I say, it's
by divine revelation. Who is doing this? It's the Lord. It's there in verse 25, isn't
it? Jehovah. The I am that I am. I am the Lord, this is my name,
he says, forever. This is the one who would appear
to Moses at the burning bush and declared himself as the I
Am, the Unchanging One? What do we read at the beginning
of the book in the Song? Verse 2, The Lord is my strength. I Am is my strength. Jehovah Azai. And what do we read here, at
the end of the chapter in verse 26? I am the Lord that healeth
thee. The Lord, the I Am, that healeth
thee. He is Jehovah Rapha. And in all
these names, you see, God is revealing Himself. He's making
Himself known. He's making Himself known to
His people in all those things that He will do for them. this
is how God reveals himself to us how he has magnified his name
above all his word as we're told in the psalm all that name is
magnified but rather he's magnified his word above all his name let's
get it the right way round he's magnified his word above all
his name he is true to his word whatever be our situation or
our circumstances. And in his word, of course, he's
not only magnifying that word, he's revealing himself,
he's making himself known to us. He is the one who is the strength
of his people, he's the one who heals his people. He is that one who saves his
people and saves his people to the Ottomans and deals with them
in strange ways. What does he say in another song
of Moses that we find in chapter 32 of Deuteronomy? There are
two songs of Moses, aren't there? There's one here in Exodus 15
and there's another in Deuteronomy 32 and there at the end of that
one he says see now that I even I am he and there is no God with
me I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any
that can deliver out of my hand oh that's the God that we have
to deal with that's the God who reveals himself here to us And
how He heals His people in the midst of all their troubles.
He healeth the broken in heart. He bindeth up their wounds. Oh,
that's the God. That's the God that revealed
Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, remember how as Christ begins
that earthly ministry after His baptism, after His temptations
in the wilderness when He returns in all the fullness of the Spirit
into Nazareth and goes there into the synagogue on the Sabbath
day and reads those words of Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. to preach deliverance of the
captives and recovering of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty
them that are bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of
the Lord. And all eyes are upon Him. And
He says to them, this day is the Scripture fulfilled. Oh, they see it being fulfilled
in the Lord Jesus Christ. While He was here, in the son
of Moses, the God who heals his people. For I am the Lord, he
says, that healeth the one who comes in the bitterness of the
trials and troubles of life and brings sweetness and comfort
and safety. How Moses cries then unto the
Lord. And how the Lord showed him a
true Which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made
sweet. There he made for them a statute
and an ordinance. And there he proved them. Oh,
that God would come then and prove and test and try us by
his word. And bless that word to our souls. Amen. Let us close our worship this
morning by the singing of hymn 759, the tune St. Mabin, 650. Jesus heals the brokenhearted,
O how sweet that sound to me! Once beneath my sin he smarted,
groaned, and bled to set me free. By his sufferings, death, and
merits, by his Godhead, blood and pain, broken hearts or wounded
spirits, are at once made whole again. The Hymn 759, the Tune
650.