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GOOD NEWS FROM THE REDEEMER
March 10, 2001 RADIO MESSAGE #362
Christ in Exodus #55
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The wanderings of Israel in the wilderness were typical of the journey of the church through this world (1 Corinthians 10:1-11). At every step of the way in the wilderness, the experience of Israel is applicable to the church. So it was in the Wilderness of Shur (Exodus 15:22-27), immediately following the salvation of Israel at the Red Sea.
1. Israel found no water for three days (v.22). This typifies the church
experiencing seasons of spiritual drought in this world (Psalm 63:1; but see
John 7:37).
2. Israel found the waters at Marah too bitter to drink until they were sweetened (vv.23-26). This typifies the bitterness the church finds in this world and the sweetening presence of Christ (more on this later).
3. Israel found twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees at Elim (v.27) – a well for every tribe and a tree for every elder. This typifies the church eventually finding "times of refreshing" follow her repentance for her complaints at her Marahs (Acts 3:19). Elim's twelve wells and the seventy palm trees also remind of us of the twelve apostles and seventy preachers sent forth by Christ (Luke 9:1ff; 10:1ff), who remind us that true refreshment is found in Him alone.
The experience of Israel at Marah was especially typical of the experience of the church in this world (see vv.23-26).
1. The situation found at Marah (v.23): "Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah [literally Bitter]." This typifies the situation the church finds in this world with all its bitterness of persecution and loss of possessions and health and friends. Christians often can empathize with Job in saying "My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul" (Job 10:1).
2. The response of Israel (v.24): "And the people murmured against Moses, saying, 'What shall we drink?'" Only three days earlier they had rejoiced in what God for them at the Red Sea (vv.1-21). But now they have forgotten that experience, and the promises of God to provide their needs, and the fact that God had purposefully led them to Marah in the pillar of cloud and fire. So they complain – "against Moses"! Did they not realize the waters of Marah were as bitter to him as to themselves? How typical of the church today!3. The action taken by Moses (v.25a): "So he cried out to the LORD ...." He did what Israel should have done. He sought the counsel of the One who had brought them to Marah. May this be typical of the church's ministers today!
4. The remedy provided by Christ (v.25b): "... and the LORD showed him a tree; and when he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. ...."
This tree was typical of Christ!1. Christ is in Scriptures compared to a tree. As the ideal man (cp. Psalm 8:3-8 with Hebrews 2:6-9), He is the blessed man who is "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither" (Psalm 1:1-3; cp. Jeremiah 17:7f). His bride the church says of Him, "Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down in his shade with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste" (Song of Solomon 2:3). He was represented by the "tree of life" in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9), and it yet represents Him in the Paradise of God (Revelation 2:7). He is there described as the "tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, ... yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (Revelation 22:2).
2. Christ sweetens the bitter experiences of His church with His presence. When in their lost condition they were drinking the bitter waters of sin, Christ appeared – on a tree! – in order to sweeten their lives by healing them and enabling them to live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). And His appearance on other occasions has sweetened their bitter waters of looming disaster (Matthew 14:24-32), hateful enemies (John 20:19f), murderous plots against themselves (Acts 23:11), and in all other bitter waters. How sweet are Marah's bitter waters when Christ appears!