GOD SHOWED ME A TREE
A beautiful picture of our Saviors’ deliverance for us.
Exodus 15:22-26
And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, because it was bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried to Jehovah. And Jehovah showed him a tree. And when he had cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a decree and a law for them, and there He tested them. And he said, If you will carefully listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, and will do that which is right in His sight, and will give ear to His commandments, and keep all His Laws, I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am Jehovah who heals you.
When life deals us a bitter pill (many times through others or ourself, for that matter) we could learn a valuable lesson as we examine these scriptures before us.
Just as Moses, we have been called to lead others to a saving knowledge of our Savior, but as we look at this story we soon realize others may be reluctant to follow and they will do their best to make life miserable for us. They had just seen God’s deliverance through Moses at the Red Sea but three days later they were balking (murmuring) on him, asking “What shall we drink?”
“What shall we drink?” Think about that question for awhile and ask yourself what kind of bitter water do we choose to drink from.
Do we drink from the well of “greed” and discover later that it is the root of all kind of evil in our life (Ist Timothy 6:10).
Do we drink from the well of “lust” only to suffer the heartache of broken relationships.
Do we drink from the well of “self satisfaction” only to suffer a life of loneliness.
Do we drink from the well of “self righteousness” only to be deprived of the Righteousness of God and all the benefits that that brings us.
Do we drink from the well of anger, fear, or hatred only to be deprived of intimate relationships with others, or worse yet, be deprived of a relationship with the God that wants to be our Father?
The list of questions could go on and on— you’ve probably thought of a few already.
The fact of the matter is we all choose to drink from bitter waters that Satan and this flesh make so attractive, or sometimes life just deals us a bitter pill, but God wants better for us and He wants better for those we come in contact with every day of our lives. When life hits us with circumstances that are hard to deal with, there is always the potential to become bitter, however God’s desire toward us is to turn the bitter into something better, or better yet turn us into something better (Look at Romans 8:28 to see God’s heart toward His children).
We’ve all heard the catchy little phrase, “Be better, not bitter.” Well that is exactly what God wants for us, but as usual we have to choose and that is what Moses chose to do when “he cried unto the Lord.” As a pastor friend of ours has said, “all of us are just one honest prayer from a closer walk with Him.” Moses realized he could do nothing to help with the bitter waters they were faced with and many might have murmured, “well is this the best he can do, lead us out here into a desert to find nothing but bitter waters.”
When Moses cried out to Him, God showed him a tree. One of the definitions of the word “showed” is “to teach,” Nothing is said about what God taught Moses about the tree but apparently there was some instruction going on between them. Moses showed his obedience to God by casting the tree into the water. Moses had to take hold of the tree to cast it into the waters but he first had to take hold of what God instructed him to do. Moses could have been thinking, “these people will think I have lost my mind, they need water and I’m out here messing with a tree,” but his act of obedience paid off as God met the need of the people through his obedience. It is not ours to figure out or to try to make sense of something that God wants us to do, our responsibility is to share want God communicates to us, and leave the results to Him.
A little food for thought here—Could it be that God was thinking about another tree on which His Son would endure the bitterness of becoming sin for us that we might enjoy the sweetness of His salvation? Jesus gives us a pretty good answer to this as He deals with the Samaritan woman when He said to her “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). Not only does He give us a drink, He gives us the well, He is the well in the person of the Holy Spirit, who always leads us in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24). He has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
Something else that God taught Moses when He showed Him the tree was instruction for the people as to how to live the blessed life He has in store for them—”There He made a decree and a law for them, and there He tested them. And he said, If you will carefully listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, and will do that which is right in His sight, and will give ear to His commandments, and keep all His Laws, I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am Jehovah who heals you.”
In a day when God’s precious Word is despised by so many it is our guide for living in the everlasting way of His abundant life.
Study His Word as if it is His voice to us, for indeed it is, and listen to what He has to say (2nd Timothy 2:15).
As we study His Word let His instruction be our guide into what is right in His sight, for sometimes we think our way is best, but in the end we discover that it is a way that lead us away from the giver of our Life (Proverbs 14:12). Remember also “to do that which is right in His sight” because we are always in His sight.
Constantly listen to what He commands us to do, desiring to keep His instruction for us.
If we will keep this mindset, yes a mindset, we can expect His blessing on our life and can expect His healing for anything that ails us.
Look at the definition of the word “heals,” A primitive root; properly to mend (by stitching), that is, (figuratively) to cure: – cure, (cause to) heal, physician, repair, thoroughly, make whole.
No matter what we are struggling with, He wants to thoroughly make us whole in body, mind, and spirit. He wants us to be one with Him (John 17:21-23).