Exodus 15.22-27 "Marah is on the way to Elim"

‘Cause it’s a Bittersweet Symphony this life’. Song by The Verve resonates with our experience. Which explains why it has been covered and used in films and is the song used by ITV before England matches. Ironic! Don’t remember much sweetness!

We have grumbling hearts

Whether or not you know the song, you’ll recognise it’s a good description of life: bittersweet. That’s your life, isn’t it? More bitter than sweet, perhaps? Chart the last few years or decades and it feel like it’s been one trial after another. For some of you there’s been so much bitterness that it’s hard to remember much sweetness at all. So if you’ve reached a period of relative calm you’re always looking for the next storm on the horizon. The theme tune of your life isn’t B-S Symphony but There may be trouble ahead.

We have a gracious God

When a person becomes a follower of Xt life can often go from bad to worse. The Xn life is no beach but a battle. If you become a Xn there will be trouble ahead. Many of you know that. At least, you know it now.

Israel have just been rescued by the LORD through the Red Sea. They’re standing on the beach as they watch their sworn enemies drown under the waves. They sing and celebrate. We would be tempted to stretch out and catch some rays upon the golden sands. But the LORD doesn’t rescue people for the beach. He has a much greater blessing.

We get a picture of it at the end of the passage in v27, Elim. Elim is the Oasis, the place of blessing, a mini Promised Land. It’s stands for the NH & NE in NT currency. But here’s what Israel and what we need to know: Marah is on the way to Elim.

Marah is on the way to Elim. Elim is the place of blessing, it’s a mini Promised Land, it stands for the NH&NE. Marah is the place of bitter trial. And the Lord leads us to blessing via bitterness.

Elim is the place of blessing. Marah is the place of bitter trial. And the Lord leads us to blessing via bitterness. Marah is on the way to Elim.

Oh we wish this were not true. We wish we could do a re-direct on the spiritual SatNav and avoid this part of the route to heaven. But here’s the truth we need to know:

The LORD will Lead you to Bitter Waters

It is not many days before birds are pushed out of their nests and learn to fly. And it is not many days before the LORD pushes his newborn children into trials and difficulty. And Israel have barely laid aside their tambourines and they are led into trial. The quickly exchange songs for suffering, and find themselves in the Desert.

Early trials. Get out of nest and fly. So Xn… (Ill: Camp: Make it easy. No!)

Sometimes in the Prayer Meeting at summer camp someone would pray, ‘Dear Father, thank you that dear Tilly has trusted Christ. As she goes home, please may her first few weeks as a Xn be easy. Amen.’ Well, I’m not at all sure I can add my amen to such prayers. Invariably the LORD leads people into trial just as soon as they submit to him. Think of Israel here being thrust out into the desert. Think of the man born blind in , immediately thrown into confrontation with the religious authorities. I think of my own experience, having to step out of my comfort zone to tell my friends I was a Xn and invite those in my Chemistry Lecture to come to the CU.

Early trials. Get out of nest and fly.

Trials come early and come in varied forms. For the 1st 3 days no water, and then they find water, but it’s bitter, undrinkable, brackish water. Which worse?

We say to the LORD, deliver me from this trial of singleness. We may get what we want, a partner, but find they don’t care for us and make our lives a misery.

Please Lord, we say, give me this new job, this promotion. And we find ourselves money rich and time poor. And we are left asking why am I working such long hours - I never see my family!

And we crave a bigger, better house. And when we move in we discover the neighbours have parties til 2pm every weekend!

If you’ve ever followed an exercise class and wished for the exercise to end. Well, it does, and you find that the next one is more painful! Well, trials take various forms, and sometimes it’s better to learn to endure the one we’re in.

Some trials are massive. Huge. Travelling 3 days in the desert with no water is about as big as it gets. Ever been stuck in a traffic jam on a hot day with nothing to drink? You even consider the backwash left in the Coke bottle that’s been sitting there 8 months! Now imagine, 3 days in the desert. And then you at last think there’s water and it’s a mirage, and is undrinkable! Imagine.

Do you ever watch those SAS programmes? The ones where they have to complete a course to see if they’re tough enough? Running for miles with a burgeon on their backs. Fighting in mud. Sleep deprivation. Interrogation. I love it! Pretty quickly the instructors put their finger on their weak spots and try to break them. ‘OK. They’re scared of heights. Let’s make them abseil down a 1000ft dam’. ‘Right. They don’t like water. Let’s chuck them out of a helicopter into the sea.’ All great stuff. Great entertainment. But at the same time, many of those involved grow as they overcome their fears and trust their team and instructors. For some, it’s life-changing.

When God leads his children into trials he doesn’t play games. Sometimes things get very serious. Our livelihoods are threatened, our reputations…and God sometimes touches the closest things of all. Our family. Our spouse. Our kids. God isn’t mucking around with us. We want to stay on the beach, but he wants to get us to the greater blessing of Elim. And Marah is on the way to Elim.

Now, I hesitate to speak of these things, but it’s not wrong. I’m not saying the path of discipleship is too difficult. I’m saying we need to count the cost, for Marah is on the way to Elim.

Goal not beach but land of blessing. Inheritance ready but make us fit to receive it. Pathway of trials. God thinks necessary. Trials are a mark of sonship. What think of child no discipline? Not loved.

Jesus tells us to pick up our cross and follow. Many will say, ‘I know I’m a sinner but the path is too difficult.’

In Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress Worldly Wiseman tries to discourage Christian from attempting the journey. “Hear me; I am older than thou: thou art like to meet with, in the way which thou goest, wearisomeness, painfulness, hunger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, dragons, darkness, and, in a word, death, and what not. These things are certainly true, having been confirmed by many testimonies …”

Not wrong to speak of this. Not saying too difficult. Saying count the cost for there will be Marah’s. Nevertheless, better to go with Xt to Marah than stay on beach with festering Egyptians.

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott A Christian’s Commitment to Having His Burden Removed

“Worldly Wiseman: … Hear me; I am older than thou: thou art like to meet with, in the way which thou goest, wearisomeness, painfulness, hunger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, dragons, darkness, and, in a word, death, and what not. These things are certainly true, having been confirmed by many testimonies …”

“Christian: Why, sir, this burden upon my back is more terrible to me than are all these things which you have mentioned: nay, me thinks I care not what I meet with in the way, if so be I can also meet with deliverance from my burden.”

“Worldly Wiseman: … Hear me; I am older than thou: thou art like to meet with, in the way which thou goest, wearisomeness, painfulness, hunger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, dragons, darkness, and, in a word, death, and what not. These things are certainly true, having been confirmed by many testimonies …” “Christian: Why, sir, this burden upon my back is more terrible to me than are all these things which you have mentioned: nay, me thinks I care not what I meet with in the way, if so be I can also meet with deliverance from my burden.”

But Christian replies: “Why, sir, this burden upon my back is more terrible to me than are all these things which you have mentioned: nay, me thinks I care not what I meet with in the way, if so be I can also meet with deliverance from my burden.”

“Worldly Wiseman: … Hear me; I am older than thou: thou art like to meet with, in the way which thou goest, wearisomeness, painfulness, hunger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, dragons, darkness, and, in a word, death, and what not. These things are certainly true, having been confirmed by many testimonies …”

“Christian: Why, sir, this burden upon my back is more terrible to me than are all these things which you have mentioned: nay, me thinks I care not what I meet with in the way, if so be I can also meet with deliverance from my burden.”

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott A Christian’s Commitment to Having His Burden Removed

“Worldly Wiseman: … Hear me; I am older than thou: thou art like to meet with, in the way which thou goest, wearisomeness, painfulness, hunger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, dragons, darkness, and, in a word, death, and what not. These things are certainly true, having been confirmed by many testimonies …”

“Christian: Why, sir, this burden upon my back is more terrible to me than are all these things which you have mentioned: nay, me thinks I care not what I meet with in the way, if so be I can also meet with deliverance from my burden.”

Marah is on the way to Elim, but it is far better to go with Xt than stay on the beach with the festering Egyptians.

The LORD will Heal and Sweeten your Bitterness

A mere 3 days, and the dances and choruses morph into grumbles and moans. The human heart changes like the April weather.

Feel free to blame them. Only 3 days! A mere 3 days since the most awesome triumph. Now they’re moaning-minis. Do blame!

But remember to hold up a mirror. We’ve experienced many a mighty deliverance. Perhaps your job, your income, your health or health of child was on the line. We prayed. We were deliver. ‘LORD’, we said, ‘I’ll never distrust you again.’ Then we came to another Marah and what did we do?

Experienced a mighty deliverance. Perhaps your health or health of child. And said, ‘LORD I will never distrust you again.’ Yeah, we will!

The grumbles aren’t ostensibly against God, but Mo. But Mo is the Servant of God. We blame our circumstances and our situations but we know God stands behind them all. It’s just we lack the integrity to tell God we’re angry AT HIM!

Our complaints aren’t caused by our circumstances. It’s how we react to our circumstances. Complains flow from a bitter heart. Jesus said, ‘Out of the heart the mouth speaks.’ The waters are bitter and so are they! Our trial is bitter and so are we.

The LORD leads his children to Marah for good reason:

First, to show us his grace. The Lord could have justly said, ‘Look! You ungrateful brats. I’ve just rescued you from slavery, defeated your enemies, and 3 days later you’re whingeing!’ But the LORD is gentle and gracious with us - and especially with those newly converted. He wants us to know that he is not only great but gracious. Not only mighty but merciful. Not only the LORD of hosts but the healer of his children.

Second, to show us his grace, and to show us our hearts. v25 says, to put us to the test (v25). Not so he would know our hearts, but so we would. We always overestimate ourselves but just ask: How am I responding in my time of trial? What is being revealed about my heart?

To test them. Not so he would know their hearts, but so they would know their own hearts. How are you responding to your trial? What is it showing you about your heart?

How often the case. We can bubble with joy but lose a night’s sleep and we become fire-breathing dragons!

And our families bring out the worst in us. Or, more accurately, they bring out the truth in us!

Bereavement works similarly. Loss drains our batteries flat and we begin to see what we’re really like. It’s not pleasant. I know! It’s distressing to discover what you’re really like.

Family too...

Why does the LORD show us this? To mock us? To load guilt onto us? No! To heal us! To make us sweet!

‘I am the LORD who heals you’. Don’t think this means if you summon up enough faith he’ll rid you of that nagging cough, or that life-shortening cancer. He might, be he’s more interested in healing your heart.

See what he says in v26. Not, ‘I am the one who heals the bitter waters’. ‘I am the one who heals YOU.’ Like the consultant the reason for the scan is so he can do surgery. How?

First, like Mo, pray.

Next he will show us what to do. Isn’t it amazing! In our trial we just can’t see the way ahead. Every solution looks like a dead-end. Mo couldn’t see either, until he prayed, and then the LORD showed him the piece of wood. Apparently a particular tree. Lit. ‘The wood’.

And God’s remedy for bitter hearts is the same as the remedy for bitter waters.

The remedy for bitter hearts is the same as the remedy for bitter waters.

The remedy for bitter hearts is the same as the remedy for bitter waters. First, we need to take the case to God in prayer. Next, he will show us what to do. The one who has gone to prepare a place in heaven for us has also prepared the way to that place. The LORD will show you, just as he showed Mo the piece of wood. Apparently a particular tree. Lit. ‘The wood’. And Mo threw in this tree and the waters became fit to drink. Lit. ‘sweet’.

First, we need to take the case to God in prayer.

Then third, Mo threw the tree into the waters and it became fit to drink. Lit. ‘sweet’. The tree turned the bitter sweet.

Next, he will show us what to do. Isn’t it amazing! We’re in a trial and can’t see any solution. Mo couldn’t see either, but he prayed and the LORD showed him the piece of wood. The solution was right next to him! See, the one who has gone to prepare a place in heaven for you has also prepared your way to that place.

The one who has gone to prepare a place in heaven for us has also prepared the way to that place. The LORD will show you, just as he showed Mo the piece of wood. Apparently a particular tree. Lit. ‘The wood’. And Mo threw in this tree and the waters became fit to drink. Lit. ‘sweet’.

The LORD will show you, just as he showed Mo the piece of wood. Apparently a particular tree. Lit. ‘The wood’. And Mo threw in this tree and the waters became fit to drink. Lit. ‘sweet’.

This reminds us of other bible trees: the life-giving tree in the Garden of Eden; the tree of life in the New Jerusalem, with leaves for the healing of the nations; and especially the tree on which Xt was crucified - taking the bitter curse of our sin so we can know the sweet blessing of healing forgiveness. The LORD who heals you specialises in trees.

In trials pray, the LORD will show you his great tree of healing, and you need to throw it into your bitter trial and let let it soak a while. Have you been suffering pain, or any other form of trial or tribulation? Let the cross soak in the streams of your thinking and say to yourself, ‘In this trial there is not the least part which is punishment. Not the least part of my affliction is a sign of the LORD’s anger. Why not? Bcs he has punished Xt for me. And he is just and will not punish the same sin twice. So what does this mean? It means that this trial is from the hand of the LORD. Actually, from his heart. He loves me, that’s why I have arrived today at Marah. This is love. I can trust him today.’

Have you been suffering pain, or any other form of trial or tribulation? Let the cross soak in the streams of your thinking and say to yourself, ‘In this trial there is not the least part which is punishment. Not the least part of my affliction is a sign of the LORD’s anger. Why not? Bcs he has punished Xt for me. And he is just and will not punish the same sin twice. So what does this mean? It means that this trial is from the hand of the LORD. Actually, from his heart. He loves me, that’s why I have arrived today at Marah. This is love. I can trust him today.’

God is love. Dare we wish for another life? HE designed your life for you - with its specific difficulties, with its discouragements - it has been custom made. Bespoke.

God is love. How do we dare wish for a life different from that which HE has given? The life he has designed for you - with its specific difficulties and discouragements - is custom made. Bespoke.

So there can be sweetness even when the trial is bitter. We can rejoice in the fact that Marah is on the way to Elim. By that I don’t mean we should wear a saccharine smile.

In fact, the un-afflicted life is an awful life. We envy those with no trials. (I bet they do, we just don’t see them). But the life free of trials is a life to be pitied. Just as a child without loving parental discipline is an unloved child. And how

Think! If Marah had been sweet, Mo and the Israelites would never have known their bitterness or God’s power to heal it.

And the LORD can certainly use a healed heart. The person who has never been sick, or bereaved, or troubled by their children or their employer or their singleness or their marriage. How can that person have a sympathetic heart? You say a trouble-free life would be fab. I get that, but what use would you be to others? In fact, the life free of trials is the life to pity. Just as a child without loving parental discipline is an unloved child. Trials are a token of divine love and a preparation for usefulness.

One of the basic lessons of the Xn life, lesson we need to daily re-learn, is that God is not only great but gracious. Not only mighty but merciful. Not only the LORD of hosts but the healer of his children.

William Cowper was a poet whose entire life seemed to have been camped at Marah. 5 of his siblings died in childbirth, he lost his mother at 6. He seems to have suffered abuse as he grew up and his life was a series of deep depressions, darkness and paralysing despair. He was converted in his mid 30s but struggled with depression until the day he died. He never understood why he suffered the way he did but trusted that God was good and had a reason for it all.

The hymns he wrote have helped many. In particular, “God moves in a mysterious way”. Let me quote a few lines:

GOD moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm...

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, the clouds that you much dread, are big with mercy and will break in blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan his work in vain; God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain.

As Israel sit down to rest at Elim they must have reflected, what Muppets we’ve been! Why did we grumble at Marah? Why did we complain…? Elim was right round the corner.

Cowper

There is nothing that can sweeten our afflictions more than knowing that the LORD is healing us through them, and knowing that Elim is just round the corner.

God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform; he plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.

Lesson:

Deep in unfathomable mines, of never-failing skill; he fashions up his bright designs, and works his sovereign will.

The Xn life is a bittersweet symphony. And the reason? The reason is the divine composer is working in your life. He will take you to Elim, but you need to know, Marah is en route.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.

For Xn, we know there is a composer and don’t just hope there is a symphony.

Think! If Marah had been sweet, Mo and the Israelites would never have known their bitterness or God’s power to heal it.

Preaching the Word: Exodus—Saved for God's Glory Palm Springs

The Bible applies the lessons of Marah and Elim by describing Jesus as the water of life. Jesus said it himself: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37b, 38; cf. 4:13, 14). Jesus was speaking about the Holy Spirit, who is the refreshing source of all spiritual vitality. To come to Jesus is to receive the Holy Spirit, and with the Spirit, an everlasting supply of grace. Everyone who comes to Jesus discovers that he is deeply satisfying in every way. And everyone may come, for Jesus says, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Rev. 22:17b).

And the LORD can certainly use a healed heart. The person who has never been sick, or bereaved, or troubled by their children or their employer or their singleness or their marriage. How can that person have a sympathetic heart? You say a trouble-free life would be fab. I get that, but what use would you be to others? In fact, the life free of trials is the life to pity. Just as a child without loving parental discipline is an unloved child. Trials are a token of divine love and a preparation for usefulness.