Touch of Wood | Exodus 15:22-27

Introduction: God plans and guides a child of God. God never said we will not have difficulties now that we are on the Lord’s side. Sometimes we face opposition, problems, and challenges even when we obey God. Many times, we find it very difficult to accept problems in life, and at such times our faith grows weary. We must understand there is a solution for every problem that we go through. If God has led you to a circumstance, God also has a way out of that circumstance.

This morning we are going to study how we ought to react when we face bitter times in life. We are also going to see why God leads us through bitter circumstances.

Exodus 15:22-27 22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled 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 sweet. There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them. 26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of 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.

Brief Background:

• The Israelites had the great exodus event, coming out of Egypt.
• Then they saw how God destroyed Pharaoh and his mighty army in the Red Sea.
• Moses and Miriam started singing with joy.
• This song is followed by a tambourine dance.

Can life get better than this? Everything is on a high; singing, dancing, rejoicing, and greeting one another.

Now we come to Exodus 15:22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.

They are moving from a highpoint in life, a point where everything seems to be going right to a point where things are going amiss. These people are following God. Now they are in the desert walking 3 days without a drop of water.

Illustration: It was bedtime and the father asked his son do you want water. He said no. After prayer the father sends his kid to bed. Five minutes later, the boy screams from the next room, “Dad! Can you get me a glass of water?” The dad says, “No.” After a minute the boy screams again, “Dad! Can you please get me a glass of water?” The dad says, “No. I asked you earlier, you had your chance. If you ask one more time, I’ll come up there and spank you.” After a short silence, the boy screams, “Dad! When you come up to spank me, can you bring me a glass or water?”

Water is essential for life. I cannot imagine even spending one day without water. Here they are 3 days, walking in a dry, sunny, & sandy desert. It would have been frustrating.

Application: Have you come across such a situation? Times where whatever you do does not produce a result. You are just wandering here and there without any hope in life.

See what happens: Now they are in a bad situation. Suddenly someone spotted a spring little far off. All of a sudden life came into them. With little energy left they started walking fast to the spring, some even would have started running towards the spring.

Exodus 15:23 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.)

Marah means bitter. They would have been fast in drinking this water only to find it bitter and spit it out. Have you ever tasted bitter water or tea mixed with salt instead of sugar? We just spit it out immediately.

Illustration: It was the end of a school year and the kindergarten teacher was receiving gifts from her students. The flower vendor’s son handed her a gift. She shook it, held it overhead and said, “I bet I know what it is, some flowers.” “That’s right” the boy said, “but how did you know?” “Oh, just a wild guess,” she said. The next student was a sweet shop owner’s daughter. The teacher held the gift overhead, shook it and said, “I bet I can guess what it is, a box of sweets.” “That’s right, but how did you know,” asked the girl. “Oh, just a wild guess,” said the teacher.

The next gift was from the son of a liquor store owner. The teacher held the packet overhead but it was leaking. She touched a drop of the leakage with her finger and touched it to her tongue. “Is it wine?” she asked. “No” the body replied, with some excitement. The teacher repeated the process taking a larger drop of the leakage into her tongue. “Is it champagne?” she asked. “No” the boy replied, with some excitement. The teacher took one more taste before declaring, “I give up, what is it?” With great glee, the boy replied, “It’s a puppy!”

Coming back, the water the Israelites found finally was bitter. What a disappointment. It is bad when there is no water, it is worse when the only water you find is bitter.

In Egypt the Israelites drank from river Nile. Even today people say that the water of river Nile has a good taste that cannot be discovered in any other streams of the world. What a change from the sweetness of the Nile to the bitterness of Marah!

Application: I have a point here. There are people here who enjoyed good times in life like drinking from river Nile and then you have gone through bitter experiences in life. Your friends, your relatives, the people you trusted and invested your life upon have given you bitter experiences in life. Maybe your closed one has passed away and you are left with a bitter experience. God is telling you he is going to change your Marah or bitterness into sweetness again, Amen!

Example: In the book of Ruth, Naomi went to Moab where she lost her husband and 2 sons. Now she is coming back to Bethlehem. In Bethlehem people recognized Naomi and called her by name – Naomi. She said, “Don’t called me Naomi, call me Mara because the Lord has made my life bitter.”

Ruth 1:20 20 “Don’t call me Naomi, ” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.

Naomi was bitter in life. I feel Naomi’s bitterness was finally made sweet when she saw Ruth getting married to Boaz and then when Naomi had the opportunity to hold the child of Ruth & Boaz in her bosom, it would have been years of great joy for her. God had turned her Marah into sweetness.

But see how the children of Israel reacted they faced bitterness in life.

Exodus 15:24 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

 The people grumbled. In KJV it is murmured or complained. God does not want us to murmur or complain in any circumstances.

Illustration: A monk joined a monastery. The rule of the monastery was that for the first 30 years they had to be silent without talking a single word to become a priest. However, they could talk a maximum of 2 words after completing every 10 years. After the first 10 years the chief priest called him and gave the monk an opportunity to speak and asked, “Do you have anything to speak?” The monk said, “Food bad.” After another 10 years the priest again called the monk and said, “Do you have anything to speak?” The monk said, “bed hard.” Another 10 years went by and it was time for the priest to anoint this monk and the priest said you have 2 words to speak. The monk said, “I quit.” The priest said, “It does not surprise me a bit, you’ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here.

The children of Israel murmured for the bitter waters and they took their frustrations towards God upon Moses. This is how people react. They will be frustrated with someone or something but they take their frustrations on somebody else. Have you ever responded like this?

Look at the response of Moses: Exodus 15:25 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 sweet. There the LORD made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them.

Moses did not join the complaining group. Moses did the only thing that he could, cry and pray to the Lord. When things are going from bad to worse, when you have no control over your circumstances stop complaining and worrying about your circumstances, but cry out to the Lord. Take out your frustrations on God.

The Bible says Marah was a test from God. Dry and bitter experiences are a test from God. Our experiences in life are a test from God and God expects you to cry out to him in those situations.

Exodus 15:25 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 sweet.

Desert streams are usually bitter. As much as there are bitter desert streams there are also trees in the desert that purify and make the bitter water sweet. There is a tree called Moringa oleifera. When Moringa seeds are crushed and poured into a bottle of dirty water, the water turns transparent within seconds. This tree is nothing but drumstick tree that we have, maybe a different variety. Moringa grows in a variety of climates and substandard soil like that of the deserts.

First of all, let me draw a parallel. Can God change bitter waters sweet? Absolutely. Look at the context here. God never made this water sweet; it was the touch of wood that made the water sweet. Now listen, “Is there a tree that can quickly purify undrinkable & bitter water?” the answer is clearly Yes, Moringa oleifera. “Can the tree grow in that area of the desert?” Again, the answer seems to be Yes.

Now God showed Moses a tree/wood, “which when he had cast into the waters it became sweet”. We cannot be sure that Moringa was the tree that God showed Moses. But God only showed Moses the tree/wood, God never asked Moses to throw it into the water.

Listen, the Lord showed him the source for the miracle. The thing that made the bitter water sweet was the wood. When Moses saw the tree and the bitter waters, he would have recollected what he had studied back in Egypt as a prince. He probably studied that this tree can make bitter water sweet and clean. He put the tree into the water and the water became sweet.

So, what do we conclude from this? God has a solution for every problem we go through. For Moses, God showed him the tree which was solution. Moses did not have to go far to search for the solution of his problem, it was there just where Moses was.

God’s solution for your problem is closer than you think. Sometimes it is there right where you are. Call upon the Lord.

Example:

1. David met the great goliath. It was a great challenge for David but the solution to the problem was the sling that David had. David used it and he immediately got the victory.
2. When 5000 men were hungry after Jesus preached it was a great challenge to feed those people. But the solution was 5 loaves and 2 fish which was right there. They just had to find the boy with it and that was the solution.
3. Hagar and Ishmael were sent out of Abraham’s house. This was the same Abraham who sheltered and brought up Hagar and Ishmael. Now, Hagar was bitter. The Bible says she laid her son under a bush and she sat and cried unable to see her son’s death. God heard her cry and when she opened her eyes, she saw a stream of water.

Her bitterness was made sweet when God heard her cry. The solution for her problem was just there but her cry had to reach God. Trust God in your circumstances, have faith in him, he will open ways for you.

Marah was a test from God, see the outcome of passing this test from God.

Exodus 15:27 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.

The Lord had a beautiful place in store for them. God took them from bitter water to sweet water to flowing water. Now there are 12 springs (one spring for each tribe) and 70 palm trees, water and food enough for all the people. They can drink and eat as much as they want.

When you go through tough times understand God has a remedy for you right in the midst of your circumstances. Our tough times are a test from God. Once you prove yourself faithful, God has a great blessing in store for us. Your bitterness will be rewarded greatly by God.

Conclusion: This morning let us understand our situation. Are you in dry land, wandering here and there for some help? Are you in the Marah experience? Somehow some opportunity came up but eventually it became a failure. Now you have become bitterer. Be faithful to God. Cry out to him and depend only on God, he will make your Marah sweet. A touch of wood made the waters of Marah sweet; the touch of Jesus can make your Marah sweet. Let us commit ourselves to him today. God Bless You!