10 Miles from Marah

As soon as the Children of Israel were delivered from their bondage in Egypt, “They should not have thought”, according to the  perceptive Matthew Henry, “that since they were delivered they had no Lord over them, but were their own masters…”  No.  They must walk in humility and consider themselves privileged to be God’s servants, because he had loosed their bonds and set them free. They must take care in everything to do that which was right in his sight and keep all of his statutes. The Israelites should not have thought that as God had delivered them and provided for them and worked miracles for them, that they were so highly favored they could offend him by living in rebellion against him.  Now, these are the same multitude that, being freed from the bondage of the Egyptians, went out from them with a “high hand”. The expression means confidently, boldly, and defiantly; not as fugitives or even runaway slaves…perhaps though, arrogantly.

Led by an enormous pillar of cloud by day, and a brilliant, warm pillar of fire by night, God brought them to rest after their journey to camp on the breezy shores of the Red Sea. All was well until one morning they awoke to the grinding, whining rumble of chariot wheels and the all-too-familiar crack of whips! Then the Israelites panicked. What! Just when everything was going so swimmingly! “We’re trapped! This is the end!” They presumed, as they turned and saw the armies of Pharaoh bearing down on them on one hand and the roaring Red Sea confronting them on the other, that all hope was lost. It is against this background that the blaming, charges, and accusations against Moses began. “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt...For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

After that little tirade, Moses attempted to calm their fears and, in doing so, he told them to hold their peace. To stop all of the whining and accusations. It is as if he said, “Stop and consider:  for the past few weeks or so, you were jubilant. Rejoicing in the Lord.  Believing in your great God, well on your way to a new life and, might I add, a considerably better one!”

Had not God just shown his mighty power again and again? Had not they witnessed the destruction and plagues the Egyptians suffered, while they were protected from such atrocities? Yes! 

Did not they leave Egypt hauling bags of gold and jewels as they went? They left with a treasure trove! And did God leave even one of them behind in Egypt? No, not one, for they left, just as Moses told Pharaoh they would:  with their young and with their old, with their sons and with their daughters and even with their flocks and herds. It was a complete deliverance.

Well, you know the rest of the story.  The Lord instructed Moses to lift his rod over the sea to divide it so the children of Israel could cross over to the other side on dry ground. That is an important detail. God did not part the sea and have them attempt to escape on quicksand. They had carts and animals—things that require solid, dry ground to move. God managed every single detail-down to the firm, impenetrable ground beneath their feet. Moreover, God removed the pillar of cloud from before the Israelites and set it behind them to blind the Egyptians.  Then, as hundreds of thousands of Israelites walked on the dry seabed, the sun began to set, and twilight appeared.  Nevertheless, God provided once more; the same cloud that prevented the Egyptians from seeing the Israelites gave light all night long as God’s people hastened on their journey past the towering walls of the Red Sea.

Once the last person was safe on the other side, the children of Israel beheld as Moses once again lifted his rod above the sea, causing the towering waves to crash down on every soldier, horse, and chariot in Pharaoh’s army. Chapter 14 of Exodus closes with this verse: “And the children of 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.”  Well now, wouldn’t you?

Nevertheless, the question is begging to be asked, “How much more did God need to prove to these people! How many times would they fail to trust him! The Children of Israel had every necessary provision-from the everlasting sandals on their feet-impervious to wear and tear- to clean drinking water, mind you, in the middle of nowhere! It just seems that whatever the miracle, it was never enough to trust him the next time. Hmmmmm. Why was that? One reason:  Instead of calling to mind what God had previously done for them- how he faithfully protected them, that he abundantly provided for them, and that he had answered their prayers- they chose rather to focus on the current distress and gave themselves over to fear.

Now back to the Red Sea. Hallelujah! They made it! They stood on the opposite shore as the sun rose the next morning and soaked it all in.  What a sight it must have been to see who or what washed up on the seashore that day. The Lord God had triumphed over his enemies and Israel’s. It was nothing short of an astounding, supernatural deliverance! They were safe, and God had kept his promises to them! What a great God! Someone, overcome by waves of emotion (no pun intended…)got the idea to get all the hymnbooks out of storage and break out in a song of praise and thanksgiving to their mighty God. Not too many hymns we have in our hymnbook today can rival this one! Just some excerpts of a few stanzas:

“The Lord hath triumphed gloriously! The Lord is my strength and my song!  And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee! The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake; thou didst blow with thy wind and the sea covered them! Who is like unto thee, O Lord! Thou in thy mercy hast led forth thy people which thou hast redeemed; thou hast guided them in thy strength…”

Oh, what a glorious time! Everyone was so greatly relieved.  I don’t know that there are too many emotions that can strengthen the heart like sweet relief. Whew! So thankful that’s over with!  Thank the Lord we made it. All is well.

But wait! There’s more! Miriam has gone to dust off her tambourine, inspiring the womenfolk to do the same! Now even the women have ceased their complaining! An astonishing detail not to be overlooked in this story.  Everyone is holding hands in an enormous circle, singing Kumbaya and praising the Lord! Amen! I am sure the Israelites plopped into bed that night with an enormous smile on their faces …well, wouldn’t you?

Three days later.

The Red Sea is now just a thin, sparkling blue ribbon in the great distance behind them, and nothing but howling wilderness around them. Everyone is thirsty. Their young ones and their old ones. Their sons and their daughters. Their flocks and their herds-everybody is complaining of thirst. “Waterrrrrrrrr”. And once again God’s appointed leader will bear the brunt of their murmurings and accusations-which, in truth, though thinly veiled, were aimed at God.

Soon they arrived at a place called Marah. They could hear the sound of water streaming! Praise the Lord!  It appears that many rushed up to the stream and began to drink big, greedy, gurgling mouthfuls, because they quickly discovered it was bitter. Awful-tasting, undrinkable water. Just terrible!  Their first reaction? Not quiet reflection of the tremendous miracles God had already executed. Not trusting that surely God will work this out as well. Instead, false accusations! Wrongful, unwarranted blame!

That Moses! Here we go again-following on this “excursion” of his! Now we’ll ultimately shrivel up and die of thirst! First, he almost got us killed by the Egyptians-next we had to run for our lives across the Red Sea-and now this! Great. This is it. We all might as well lie down and die... 

As if he had ever done them wrong-or ever would.

Yet, in the midst of their whining and complaining, God showed Moses a tree, and when he had cut it down and thrown it into the stream, the water became sweet and drinkable. I imagine the sounds of their grumblings were turned into the sounds of their gulping…

As this story ends in the closing verses of Exodus 15, the Bible says that God made them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them. This means God laid everything out for the children of Israel. Reminds me of what good, godly parents must regularly do to keep their “young‘ins” in check and their homes harmonious. That he loved them was indisputable. That he was able to do exceeding, abundantly above all they could ever ask or think had been proven. Now they must honor and obey him at any cost, through any situation, for he alone was their God. And, as they would journey onward, whether they obeyed and submitted or disobeyed and rebelled would determine whether it would be a joyous journey or a miserable one. The choice was theirs. What God expected from them was thankful hearts and obedience. What they could expect from God was a list of benefits and blessings so extensive I could not list them here.

The details of the statutes made clear, the children of Israel then journeyed onward and found that, even in the wilderness of this world, God’s provisions are exceeding abundant. For only 10 miles from Marah they came to a place called Elim.  Here were 12 wells of water-providentially prepared for them so long ago by those who sought water for their own survival. God, steadfast and true in his leadership and provision, led his children beside still waters.  Additionally, there were 70 palm trees, under whose shadows they would take their rest. A place of delights.  Plenty of water, cool shade and refreshment for all.  I know we may be tempted to think in our day, “What’s so great about water and wells?” I tell you it was everything to them. In a dry, howling wilderness-it was the gift of life.

Through every journey in our lives, we must be aware that faith is the slow, deliberate process of submitting our lives into God’s purposes until they are inseparable. This is the real test for the child of God. The faithful, long walk. The putting of one foot in front of the other-the life of faithful continuance.

Thank you so much for reading!

In Christ, Who is our life,

Liz