The sea is barely dry behind them, and already Israel is walking into the Desert of Shur. An enclosure they cannot break through on their own. Three days, no water. You can almost hear their thoughts, “You won’t make it. You don’t have what it takes.”
“Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they travelled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” 25 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 fit to drink. There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. 26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.” 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.” (Exodus 15 v 22-27)
After God makes a way where there was no way, He takes them into a similar experience. The Desert of Shur means a ‘fortress wall’. An enclosure that they were not going to get through.
They couldn’t find water. Sometimes we know the experience, which is like a voice saying, ‘You won’t make it’.
It was for 3 days. Again, we can easily hear, “You don’t have the strength.”
They had a bitter experience. We all know that experience: it’s disappointing; we expected far more than we got.
- V25 Testing is part of life with God. Deuteronomy 8 v 2 “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” Are you committed to the Lord? Are you going to turn back? How do you know? The testing is the way.
- V25 God wants to show you things. Ultimately that you can turn bitterness into sweetness and a dead opportunity into one full of life.
- V26 God wants to reveal you to the world. To show others how He deals with you. The Lord tells Moses He does not want to deal with His people the way He dealt with the Egyptians.
Every Marah you walk through is on its way to an Elim you haven’t seen yet. But can you trust the Lord?
Missions Paul 