"So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, 'What shall we drink?' So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet." (Exodus 15:22-25)
The miracle of the Red Sea was spectacular, but three days is time enough to forget the victory; now Israel was faced with a long trip through a difficult, dry desert. After three dry, thirsty days they finally came to water. But when they found the pool of water, it must have seemed like a cruel joke. To finally come upon water, and then to find that water undrinkable! The water was bitter, so they named the place "Marah" – which means "bitter."
But God had a plan. He directed Moses to take a tree – or perhaps a portion of the tree – and cast it into the polluted pool. Somehow, the tree made the waters drinkable, and God supplied their need.
How did the tree work? Jamie Buckingham, in his book on the Exodus journey, believed that the chemicals in the sap of the broken limb drew the mineral content down to the bottom of the pool, and left only good water on top. Buckingham went even further. Based on the mineral composition of water pools in that part of the world, he thought that though the waters were now drinkable, they still had a significant magnesium
and calcium content. These chemicals would have a laxative effect on the nation of Israel – which would have made them uncomfortable for a few days, but Buckingham believes it would have effectively purged their bodies from the common Egyptian ailments such as amoebic dysentery and bilharzia, a weakening
disease common among Egyptian peasants. In addition, the calcium and magnesium together would form the basis of a supplement called dolomite - used by some athletes to enhance performance in hot weather conditions. If Buckingham is correct, then at Marah, God provided the right medicine to both clean out
their systems, and prepare them for a long, hot march to Sinai.
One way or another, the point is evident. God wasn't only interested in getting the children of Israel out of Egypt. He also wanted to get Egypt out of the children of Israel - both physically and spiritually. God's plan was to transform a slave people into Promised Land people. He used some tough times in the desert to
accomplish that goal, but God always had that goal in sight. His goal wasn't to make them thirsty at Marah, but to make them Promised Land people. His work is essentially the same in us. That means God has to take us out of a sinful environment, and then He must take a sinful environment out of us. What does God want to
work out of you this week, to make you more of a Promised Land kind of person?
By David Guzik
The miracle of the Red Sea was spectacular, but three days is time enough to forget the victory; now Israel was faced with a long trip through a difficult, dry desert. After three dry, thirsty days they finally came to water. But when they found the pool of water, it must have seemed like a cruel joke. To finally come upon water, and then to find that water undrinkable! The water was bitter, so they named the place "Marah" – which means "bitter."
But God had a plan. He directed Moses to take a tree – or perhaps a portion of the tree – and cast it into the polluted pool. Somehow, the tree made the waters drinkable, and God supplied their need.
How did the tree work? Jamie Buckingham, in his book on the Exodus journey, believed that the chemicals in the sap of the broken limb drew the mineral content down to the bottom of the pool, and left only good water on top. Buckingham went even further. Based on the mineral composition of water pools in that part of the world, he thought that though the waters were now drinkable, they still had a significant magnesium
and calcium content. These chemicals would have a laxative effect on the nation of Israel – which would have made them uncomfortable for a few days, but Buckingham believes it would have effectively purged their bodies from the common Egyptian ailments such as amoebic dysentery and bilharzia, a weakening
disease common among Egyptian peasants. In addition, the calcium and magnesium together would form the basis of a supplement called dolomite - used by some athletes to enhance performance in hot weather conditions. If Buckingham is correct, then at Marah, God provided the right medicine to both clean out
their systems, and prepare them for a long, hot march to Sinai.
One way or another, the point is evident. God wasn't only interested in getting the children of Israel out of Egypt. He also wanted to get Egypt out of the children of Israel - both physically and spiritually. God's plan was to transform a slave people into Promised Land people. He used some tough times in the desert to
accomplish that goal, but God always had that goal in sight. His goal wasn't to make them thirsty at Marah, but to make them Promised Land people. His work is essentially the same in us. That means God has to take us out of a sinful environment, and then He must take a sinful environment out of us. What does God want to
work out of you this week, to make you more of a Promised Land kind of person?
By David Guzik
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